The Greek Philanthropy Union, Physical Plant, and the greater Hamilton community surpassed their fundraising goal and raised enough funds to purchase 130 Easter hams and donate $325 for more groceries for the Country Pantry in Clark’s Mills.

Look at campus e-mail on any given day during Hamilton’s academic year and chances are there’s a service opportunity seeking volunteers. The people behind these numerous events are the Community Outreach and Opportunities Program (COOP) Senior Fellows – Danielle Lashley, Ramya Ramnath and Amy Soenksen. They coordinate volunteer requests with local non-profits, plan events and organize volunteers.

Hamilton students involved with the Community Outreach and Opportunity Program (COOP)’s service internship program gathered with their sponsors for a breakfast on Feb. 12 at COOP offices in the Chapel. The COOP Service Internship (CSI) program provides paid internships for service experience in a local nonprofit office over the student’s first four semesters.

More than 80 students volunteered at non-profit agencies in the local community on Saturday, Jan. 26, for Hamilton’s 15th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Service Day. Hamilton Association for Volunteering, Outreach and Charity (HAVOC) sent groups of students to 19 different sites to spend the afternoon working on various projects.

Hamilton College is commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. Day with events this week and next.  Today, employees are volunteering at three non-profit organizations in the Utica area.  Employees were released from regular duties so they could work on group projects at Johnson Park Center, Upstate Cerebral Palsy and the Rescue Mission.

Eight members of the class of 2016 are getting the chance to change the world for the better as Community Outreach and Opportunity Program (COOP) Service Interns.  The students, all of whom  had outstanding service records while in high school, become interns for local nonprofits during their first two years on the Hill.

The fifth annual Hamilton Serves took place on Wednesday, Aug. 29, with the entire first-year class and new transfer students going out to volunteer at 60 community organizations.

Take a group of Hamilton employees eager to volunteer in the community, put them in a warehouse full of unused books headed for the discard pile, and what has evolved is a Community Bookshelf service project that benefits many local organizations.

Hamilton will commemorate Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday with several campus and community events in January.

People and events at Hamilton drew much interest from local media during 2011. The celebration of Hamilton’s Bicentennial garnered significant attention, student volunteering was the subject of positive news stories and editorials, and faculty members offered expertise on timely news topics throughout the year.