GPPH Volunteer Week Challenge, Winter 2017

UNE Online’s Graduate Programs in Public Health (GPPH) recently held our first Volunteer Week challenge!

Our goal was to encourage UNE students and public health professionals everywhere to facilitate meaningful community service activities with a public health focus.

The UNE GPPH community shared photos of how they gave back this season, and we created a special Facebook album, titled #uneonlinegivesback just for these photos. We were definitely inspired by what we received.

As an added bonus we proposed a contest to our GPPH students – a free textbook for the best photo submission. MPH student Jensen was the winner with her adorable photo volunteering for the Rescued n’ Ready Animal Foundation in Tulsa, OK.

The GPPH Team Gives Back!

Not only did we encourage others to give back during our first Volunteer Week Contest, we collaborated with Partners for World Health in Portland, Maine to volunteer as a team for an afternoon. The group that participated consisted of Public Health Program Administrators and Faculty, as well as enrollment, student support and marketing staff members.

Partners for World Health is an organization that collects thousands of pounds of unused medical supplies, that would otherwise be thrown away, and distributes them to countries in need.

During the afternoon that we spent volunteering there, our group helped pack two large shipping containers of medical supplies. One left for Nigeria the following Monday, and the other is scheduled to leave for Syria, via Turkey, in the coming weeks. To learn more about this amazing organization you can visit their website at https://www.partnersforworldhealth.org/.

Networking for the greater good

Connecting with your local community through volunteer opportunities is not just a great way to help others while gaining valuable knowledge and skills. It’s also a valuable networking tool. The GPPH Team at UNE Online is committed to producing high-quality public health professionals, and so we encourage active volunteerism as a part of the lifelong learning and career development process.

Stay tuned for details about the next edition of our Volunteer Week series coming Spring 2018!