By Grant Rambo
In the McFarland Student Union positioned in front of the Schaffer Auditorium, a small table with a small transparent plastic box filled with Rita’s coupons, and a member of the Community Outreach Center (COC) was sitting eagerly to spread the word about their organization’s goals for social change and awareness. This was but one of the many events organized by the COC that would inspire interest within the students of KU to take a moment out of their day and listen if only for a moment, about how donating 5 dollars (by way of QR code or physical cash) could contribute to a cause focused on helping others.
Taking the exploration of the COC to their office (Room 281 MSU), an undergraduate student and Office Coordinator of the COC, Alexandra Sierer happily explained just some of the many branches and events the organization runs. “We have different aspects of the COC. We go cook for those in need at Opportunity House in Reading. We also have the Club of Unmatched Littles which is where we partnered with The Big Brothers and Big Sisters with kids in Reading. We go there, they come here, and we form a relationship with the kids in Reading, and it’s a really enriching opportunity and they love it. It’s really fun. My favorite part… [is] (Operation Snowflake) when it snows in the winter we go and shovel for the community, the elderly, and the mentally disabled.” Sierer followed this up by saying something that encapsulates the heart of the COC. “We have so many opportunities…we just try to make the community knows that we’re here for them.”
From social advocacy to promoting leadership, the COC does whatever it can to alleviate the pressures of the world from those in need. Both a student-oriented group and a campus organization, they use the relatability of one student calling upon another to contribute as their primary means of engagement. However, in speaking with a member of the COC, they helped bring more focus to the organization’s objectives.
As this member described the organization’s goals to me in greater detail, they revealed that the COC’s greatest foe is indifference and inaction. In other words, the complacency of people to stand by and do nothing in the face of social issues.
One may naturally ask how the idea of “engagement” is doing in terms of student involvement, and from what can be observed, the COC’s fears are all too real.
As mentioned earlier, the Rita’s Coupon Fundraiser was in the perfect location for students to interact with the COC representative, but regrettably, they did not.
There was a student who was willing to explain why they had been unable to pay the 5-dollar donation. They went on to explain that it was due to them not having enough money on them at the time, which sheds light onto one of the heads of the complacency monster. The mere fact that many students at the end of the day are just trying to get by with their classes, social lives, and their other responsibilities to manage.
Sometime after the event, the COC who oversaw the fundraiser was asked whether the engagement and participation of the students had been notably changed in recent memory, they said, “I believe that student involvement has lessened over time due to both COVID and the mental health crisis that’s among our youth today.”
The pandemic was a means for much fear and isolation between individuals for quite some time. As a result, people are more disinclined to engage with matters that may warrant time away from their own duties. And with other key factors such as mental health involved it is understandable that sometimes people are simply unable to contribute to organizations like the COC.
If anything is to be taken away from the observations regarding the coupon fundraiser, it is that the dangers brought to light by the COC are all too real.
Civic engagement.
Those two words are the epitome of everything the COC focuses on so fervently. The breadth of who the student organization helps is as varied as it is adaptable. It is clear that though the COC may be small when compared to the grand scale of the world, it is by no means alone.
For as long as someone wishes to contribute to a form of charity or participate in an event that would improve the quality of life for others, then the COC will never truly be alone. Anyone, from anywhere, has the power to lend a hand or speak up for anything they deem of great importance.
All it takes is the courage to do so.
Upon asking Sierer if more community engagement is needed, Sierer responded by saying, “I feel like we provide enough opportunities for everyone to find something that they like if they want to give back to the elderly or they want to help cook, we have an opportunity for everybody if they want to get involved. And I just feel like getting the word out about the COC is what’s difficult.” And she mentioned shortly after, “We’re starting to get more and more volunteers every day.”
That is the point of the COC. It is to bring people together and present them with issues, debates, events, or good causes that all can contribute to.
In the day and age of smartphones and the widespread influence of social media, the latest generation has been presented with the dangers of being overwhelmed by or disillusioned with the news and the wider world thanks to false facts and radicalized discourse.
Many are being disillusioned with their own power to make a change.
At the end of the day, positive change is what the COC wants to encourage in the students they interact with.
All someone needs to do to help groups like the COC, or to contribute to society, is to take a breath, take a chance, and take a look inside themselves to see just how powerful their voice can be.
To conclude with something that Sierer had said that truly resonates with the spirit of what the COC stands for, she said, “If you wanna show the community that you love them, give your time back to them.