Volunteer Programs

Volunteer Programs

The Community Outreach Center focuses on a number of issues/areas and organizes service opportunities throughout the year to combat these issues. For information about specific volunteer opportunities, please visit ENGAGE - Service Opportunities.

Enviromental Issues 

The Community Outreach Center works to establish volunteer projects that are dedicated to both enriching the local community as well as protecting the natural land and resources that surround us in the Berks and Lehigh County areas. Some of the volunteer opportunities organized by the Environmental Issues Coordinator include: 

  • Community, highway, and beach clean-ups.
  • Assisting local animal shelters.
  • Promoting eco-friendly practices on campus and in the borough.
  • "Operation Snowflake" shovel program to assist seniors and those with disabilities in town during winter snow storms.

Health and Elderly

This branch of the Community Outreach Center allows students to serve the community in a different aspect. Our primary focus in this area is the elderly community in nursing homes. Through our partnership with the Topton Lutheran Home and Willowbrook Senior Center, we provide residents with music, entertainment, mentorship, and academic presentations.

Hunger & Homelessness

Our Hunger and Homelessness programs seek to improve the quality of life for people within our local communities. Our goal is to create awareness and provide services for the homeless and the hungry. We are also heavily involved with the food pantry on campus by helping sort and collect donated goods. Some of the service opportunities organized include: 

  • Annual Thanksgiving and Winter Holiday food drive with Friend, Inc. 
  • Pack for an Impact, which provides menstrual products to the 6th Street Shelter in Allentown.
  • Provide lunch and dinner at Opportunity House once a month. 
  • Opportunities at local and on-campus food pantries.
  • Civic advocacy around food insecurity issues.
  • Activities during National Hunger Awareness Week.

Diversity & Equity 

The Community Outreach Center works to address the needs of diverse communities in the area through service and civic engagement. Our students participate in lobby days, advocacy trips and service opportunities with groups like the ACLU, TopSoccer, Special Olympics, the LGBT Center of Greater Reading, Peace.Love.Kutztown. and more! Some of the volunteer opportunities organized include: 

  • Days of Service for MLK Day, World Day of Social Justice, Juneteenth and more! 
  • Assisting with the spring Special Olympics.
  • Organizing monthly TopSoccer visits for youth in Allentown.
  • Advocacy events to raise awareness about social justice, civil rights, and equity.

Civic Engagement & Voter Services

The Community Outreach Center is committed to increasing civic learning and democratic engagement through our non-partisan Kutztown Votes initiative. Kutztown Votes Ambassadors work through our Center to increase voter registration, inform students of election dates and deadlines, create spaces for learning and discussion of civic topics, and foster engagement between students and their local, state, and federal governments. Some programs and opportunities organized include: 

  • Annual programs including Constitution & Citizenship Day, National Voter Registration Day and more! 
  • Weekly voter registration and information tables and presentations. 
  • Lobby & advocacy days in Harrisburg and Washington, D.C.
  • Collaborative service opportunities that include a civic engagement component. 

Alternative Spring Break

Alternative Spring Break is an immersive college experience where you get to volunteer your Spring Break to a community in need.  Every spring break, we invite students to join us and explore how volunteering and advocacy can make such a change! If you are interested in joining us for Alternative Spring Break, email americareads@kutztown.edu for more information.