Students and staff from Kettering University are not letting COVID-19 stop them from continuing to give back to the community through volunteerism. Their efforts are showing to have a significant impact on the community in crime reduction.
Clean-ups are one way that Kettering University students and staff are contributing to community improvement through volunteerism. In October a group of over a dozen staff and students from the university came together to beautify the University Avenue corridor. The effort is part of a broader project coordinated by The University Avenue Corridor Coalition, established in 2012. Over the years, the coalition has brought together multiple businesses along the corridor to complete over 100 clean-up projects among other activities and has shown itself to be effective in improving the corridor and community. Kettering University students have consistently stepped up to volunteer to help with these efforts.
At the most recent clean-up event, students and staff met, donned with facemasks and adhering to distancing guidelines, at a field at the corner of University Ave and Wolcott St in Flint where they picked up trash, cleared tripping hazards on the sidewalks (overgrown weeds, tree branches, etc.), and cleared storm drains of debris. Other projects organized by the University Avenue Corridor Coalition since 2012 include helping residents with home repair and house painting, and replacing over 500 outdoor lights.
Kettering students are no strangers to community service. Whenever Director of External Relations Jack Stock needs volunteers for community projects he reaches out to the Student Affairs office and rarely has trouble finding the help he needs. As Stock stated in a release from Kettering, "Really, the biggest challenge is corralling the students at Kettering at one time. They are exceedingly busy, but still willing to give their time freely."
The work done by the volunteers from Kettering University, in collaboration with The University Avenue Corridor Coalition, has translated into significant changes in the community. Hotspots for crime have been cut in half while membership has increased by 340 percent.