EAST HAVEN

A pilot program hosted on Nov. 18 at East Haven High School (EHHS) promoting a breadth of opportunities for student community service hours was deemed a success by both its administration and nonprofit organizers and participants.

The pilot program, which is called the Community Service Fair, was organized by the nonprofit Community Volunteers United. The organizations’s leader, Ken Engelman, said that “the purpose of the program is to introduce local nonprofits with local students who need community service hours to graduate—for mutual benefit.”

These nonprofits span a wide range of interests for students, ranging from opportunities for volunteership at the East Haven Animal Shelter, health and human services with the East Shore Health District and the Family Resource Center, and East Haven Television, among others.

Engelman told The Courier an important aspect of the volunteer fair was introducing opportunities and nonprofits of which students may not have been aware, rather than just the “popular nonprofits like the animal shelter, food bank, and library,” he said.

Engelman said the program is meant to generate “compassion, empathy, and community thinking in future adults, businesspeople, and elected leaders,” in addition to presenting to students “how and why a healthy community stems from all residents working together,” while also offering them potential career paths which they may not have previously considered.

These core aspects of the program were shared by EHHS Assistant Principal Sal Vollero, who touted the success of the program.

“It really does help our students get to experience community service opportunities and to help East Haven and to build their community up,” he said. “It makes our students more connected to the town.”

Vollero was amazed at the student’s level of engagement and interest, citing up to 40 students who have expressed written interest in the various organizations.

“That was beyond my expectations,” he said.

Shoreline Greenway Trail was one of the nonprofits at the program, represented by Matthew Lieber, its vice chair. Lieber said it was a “great event” which was “valuable” for students, in addition to giving the nonprofit the chance to talk with students about its two-decade long project of constructing cycling and walking trails across the shoreline.

Lieber said the nonprofit has implemented a “student engagement initiative” as part of its mission and is looking to establish contacts in East Haven.

“The things that they can do include a range of things indoors and outdoors and organizing with their peers and in the community with partner organizations, such as East Shore Health District,” said Lieber.

According to Lieber, a breadth of opportunities for different skill sets exist even within a specific nonprofit like the Shoreline Greenway Trail. For tech-savvy students who are interested in getting involved in the conservationist mission of the nonprofit, but are not necessarily intrigued by trail preservation, Lieber said the nonprofit still needs help in the areas of communication, such as its social media presence or with art and graphic design.

Engelman is hoping to see this program hosted at the beginning of the academic school in every high school in Connecticut, preferring that it be hosted by schools earlier in the school year, rather than later.

Engelman explained that since “most students/parents wait until the last minute to choose where to perform their community service hours,” the yearly program would allow for students to “learn about the different services local nonprofits offer their neighbors/environment, so they get to choose where they do their service based upon their interests” earlier in the school year.

Coming off the success of the fair, Vollero said he plans on having the event again at EHHS in 2025.

More information about the program can be found at communityvolunteersunited.org. Engelman can be contacted at 201-638-7141.