At the University of Tennessee, being a Volunteer is a way of life. And no Student Life event highlights that more than the annual Pack to Give Back. Organized each year by the Office of the Dean of Students, this one-day event creates volunteer opportunities that support needs within the campus community.
During Pack to Give Back, students, faculty, and staff volunteers sign up for two-hour shifts to complete some kind of “packing” activity that supports local needs. This year, volunteers packed and assembled three different kinds of well-being kits. Volunteers also learned about the campus departments that will be distributing the kits throughout their shifts. Event organizers aimed to create a program that was needs-based but also informed by what student populations served by Student Life departments would benefit from receiving.
“Something really special about Pack to Give Back is that we were able to create so many different avenues for volunteers to feel connected to the campus community. Volunteers were able to more directly engage with campus resources they may not have been familiar with, and participants were able to connect with the students, faculty, and staff members they worked alongside during their shifts.”
Allie Hicks, Coordinator for Multicultural Student Life
Volunteers packed 600 acute illness kits that included Tylenol, tissues, Tylenol cold and flu, and tea. These kits were built to provide short-term care and comfort to students experiencing minor illnesses and were distributed to the Student Health Center to be given to students utilizing clinic services.
To support students needing access to personal hygiene supplies, volunteers packed 2,000 hygiene kits that included shampoo, conditioner, body wash, a razor and shaving cream, a wash cloth, and lotion. These kits were designed to support students who may be experiencing housing insecurity or resource insecurity and rely on showers in facilities like TRECS. Hygiene kits were distributed to five offices across campus.
And finally, 1,000 care kits were packed that included a pop-it toy, sensory ball, motivational stickers, Vol is a Verb socks, a health and wellness info flyer, and a card from a student with an encouraging message. These self-soothing items along with an encouraging hand-written note from a peer are meant to provide comfort and support to students experiencing hardship or who may feel anxious or uncomfortable engaging with campus services. These kits were distributed to the Centers for Health Education and Wellness, Care and Resilience, and the Student Counseling Center.
Then, these kits were distributed across campus to departments who might intersect with students in moments where these kits could provide a critical resource. The items in the kits were specifically requested by departments to meet the needs they observed in the students they served.
“Basically, we hope to increase access to well-being supplies,” says Ciara Gazaway, program director in the Office of the Dean of Students and event organizer. “UT’s campus is 910 acres, and for a student experiencing a critical need, getting themselves across such a broad area to a specific office might be more than they can manage. Instead, we hope to equip offices to meet those needs for students in the moment that they are accessing support in another way.”
At the end of the day, staff and student volunteers in the final shift helped deliver all care kits to the appropriate offices. Overall, 189 students and 20 staff signed up for a volunteer shift during Pack to Give Back.