Summer Volunteer Opportunity Grant (SVOG)

Student Volunteer Opportunity Grant

2012 APPLICATION IS NOW AVAILABLE

Summer Experiential Learning Application

GENERAL INFORMATION

History
In 1991, the Helen Bader foundation established the Helen Daniels Bader Fund for Student Charitable Work to encourage students to undertake meaningful volunteer service. From 1991 to 1995, this grant supported Lawrence students in their summer service initiatives. The Summer Volunteer Opportunity Grant (SVOG) is currently funded by the Lawrence University Volunteer and Community Service Center (VCSC). In 2011, the Office of Engaged Learning, Career Services, and the VCSC came together to create one application for students interested in funding summer experiential learning. Therefore, students completing this grant application may be eligible for additional funding beyond SVOG.

Purpose
The Summer Volunteer Opportunity Grant is designed to provide financial assistance for Lawrence students participating in service projects as learning experiences during the summer months. SVOG funding is available to assist with the practical expenses for summer service projects. Because the VCSC recognizes the financial demands of a Lawrence University education, part of the funding is also intended to offset the opportunity cost of a summer spent engaged in volunteer and service work.

Although the grant itself helps to remove financial barriers to summer service, the SVOG program also seeks to enhance and develop the individual student learning imperative as well as the Lawrence community's broader understanding of service. To that end, recipients are encouraged to link service work and academic inquiry and expected to engage themselves and the campus community in a consideration of social, legal, political, and other issues pertinent to their service project.

ELIGIBILITY
Students who will have successfully completed at least two terms of academic work at Lawrence University before the start of their proposed project are eligible to apply for SVOG funding. Qualifying students must be available the academic year after their summer of service to present to the LU community; graduating seniors are not eligible. Projects involving travel to countries that have been identified as unsafe by the U.S. Department of state will not be funded.

PAST RECIPIENTS

Please see the following PDF for more information on previous Summer Volunteer Opportunity Grant receipients.
SVOG Recipients:1991-2010

SVOG 2011 Recipients

	Hilary Haskell ’12 Camino Seguro, GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA	Camino Seguro (Safe Passage) provides a safe alternative for children living around and working in the Cuatemala City garbage dump. Hilary will assist teachers in daily activities including helping children with homework, assisting during English class, and extra-curricular activities. She will give extra support, positive reinforcement, and encourage students to gain the skills they need to stay in school and improve their lives.
	Minh Nguyen ’13 Volunteer for Peace Vietnam (Good School – Good Planet: Improving primary education for ethnic children in Moc Chau Plateau) HANOI and SON LA, VIETNAM	The Good School – Good Planet project aims to bring education to the mountainous region near Vietnam’s capital city, in the town of Son La. Minh will participate in work camps, where he will play with the children, acclimate them to their new school, and help teach them Vietnamese. He will also participate in events to fundraise and recruit members for the group.
	Eliana Socha ’13 Sustainable Roots, COSANGA, ECUADOR	Eliana will be running an after-school and evening classes in science and English-learning for Sustainable Roots. In addition, Eliana will also assist environmental education in the community by maintaining Cosanga’s primary school’s gardens and greenhouse. Sustainable Roots is dedicated to environmental preservation and sustainable development in communities of Latin America while maintaining their cultural pride and heritage.
	Tonya St. Julien ’13 Love Volunteers, DAKAR, SENEGAL	Tonya will volunteer at an orphanage based in Dakar where she will work with HIV-positive children, street children, and orphans. She will teach, feed, counsel, facilitate and organize recreational activities with the children. Love Volunteers is a program that works toward empowering exploited people through the implementation of education.
	Marika Straw ‘13 Human Rights Center, MINNEAPOLIS, MIINNESOTA	Marika will be an intern at the Human Rights Center located at the University of Minnesota. As an intern, she will assist the programs This is My Home, a curriculum program, a human rights documents library and Partners in Closing the Gap, which aims to close the gap between schools and communities by linking teachers, students, and parents in community partnerships to promote racial healing and justice. Marika also will host and plan events for 10-12 visiting international human rights professionals.