A group of about 12 students from the Excelling Leaders Institute, Greek Life and USG attended an All Hands volunteer day to provide flood relief for Loveland on Sunday, Oct. 20. The students worked on salvaging materials from old houses and businesses, raking out mud and muck, sweeping, cleaning and sanitizing.

USG Secretary of Community Partnerships Arimus Wells originally reached out to All Hands, an international non-profit organization dedicated to helping communities in need in the wake of natural disasters, last month following the Colorado floods.

“I spoke with USG and we saw that within our own state there was this need. There are a lot of people being affected by the floods. This was a chance to engage the student body,” said Wells.

Wells said he expected to get the project off the ground sooner, but there were several delays.
“In the aftermath of the floods there was a huge response. I struggled finding a way to help because most places only wanted monetary donations, not volunteers,” said Wells.

According to Wells, USG planned to solicit $1,000 from student organizations to donate to All Hands. Some organizations were very receptive to just donating money, while others were not receptive at all. In the end, they donated $300 and started looking for volunteer opportunities instead.

“Personally I don’t believe in just donating money because I feel like there’s no benefit to the students. It’s more beneficial for us to volunteer,” said Wells.

Wells said the project was intended to be a USG effort, but after only three members expressed an interest, he sent an email to USG to disseminate to other student organizations.

“The overall turnout rate for volunteers was pretty low and I feel like it was unsatisfactory,” said Wells. “But I feel like that is a challenge for me, and it’s a challenge that I’m willing to accomplish this year.”

According to Wells, other delays included date and location changes. Originally, the volunteers were supposed to be working in Greeley, but All Hands changed the location to Loveland because of the progress Greeley had made since the flood.

The position of Secretary of Community Partnerships was created by USG last month, several days before Wells reached out to All Hands. He said President Mike Schutte and Vice President Katrina Yoshida thought there needed to be more of a community service component on campus, which could start in USG and spread to the student body.

“Students need to start engaging in meaningful community service projects. I feel like it’s not stressed enough and I want to make that a core theme on campus,” said Wells.

Wells said future projects might include volunteering at local schools, revitalization projects, a food drive or a clothing drive. He said his goal is to reach out to multiple organizations like All Hands and build relationships with them throughout the year.

“My main thing is making it meaningful. I want it to be something where you’re going to learn something from it,” said Wells. “Right now it’s a lot of trial and error.”