by Laura Archer, Staff Writer
Last Friday on March 17, a Community Service and Non-Profit Fair was held for students in the Ehinger Center. The purpose of this event was to give students a chance to network and find possible jobs, internships or volunteer opportunities. Present at the fair were a total of 31 companies, in various sectors including the arts, education, environment, government, health and fitness, health care, leadership, religion and social services.
Amy Koritz, the Director of the Civic Engagement Program, said that this is the third year they’ve held the fair. “We have a lot of students interested in doing work with a social purpose. It’s a broader approach for more students to get involved with the community,” Koritz said. She also stated that “many of our students don’t know what’s out there” and that the fair was a product of student requests to help students network with non-profit companies.
Of the many companies present was the Christ Church of Rockaway and Montclair. Representative for the church, Bryan Falson said, “We hope students see an opportunity in us.” The church offers internships for students interested in finance, media and community development. These internships are paid positions and are counted for credits. Among other opportunities, Christ Church also offers field education and other volunteer opportunities. Director of Christ Church’s Internship Program, Davida Blackman hopes that students “realize how important volunteers are for non-profits.”
Junior Civic Scholars were required to attend this event while other students were encouraged to go as well. A Junior Civic Scholar, Jenna Abyad (’18), said, “I just wanted to know some of the cool non-profits that I didn’t know about.” Another civic student, Violet Wallerstien (’20), said she attended the event hoping to find an internship for the fall.
The coordinator of the event was the Mary Hepburn Civic Engagement Fellow, Jena Angeliadis (’17). As this was her first time organizing this fair, her biggest challenge was “making sure we had a sufficient amount of employers and a good student:employer ratio.” Jena’s biggest take away from putting on this event was improving her networking skills. She said she “got to communicate directly with the organizations” and it “taught [her] how to maintain professional relationships.”
Other companies that attended this event included: ARTS by the People, Americorps – N.J. Community Development Corp., Jersey STEM, Mental Health Association in New Jersey, Morris Habitat for Humanity, and U.S. Navy – Medicine.
Interested in attending future events like these? Keep a look out for postings by the Center for Civic Engagement.
