SNHU Inter-Greek Council joins City Year NH volunteers for Day of Service at Hallsville 

MANCHESTER, NH  – On Saturday, October 20, members of the Inter-Greek Council of Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) and City Year New Hampshire AmeriCorps members engaged in over a dozen improvement projects both inside and outside of Hallsville Elementary School in Manchester. 

The Inter-Greek Council (IGC) at SNHU is one of many organizations across the country committed to such high-minded ideals as brotherhood/sisterhood, academic scholarship, the development of proper leadership, success, and service to the community. Together with City Year AmeriCorps volunteers serving in 8 elementary schools in Manchester, SNHU students spent a full day of service focused on improving the grounds and interior spaces at Hallsville Elementary School. 

Activities included painting of blacktop games such as foursquare and a football field, building a sandbox and picnic tables in a new reading garden, creating colorful and welcoming murals all throughout the school building, decluttering spaces, and assembling packets with math facts and sight words for students to take home. 

Of their efforts, Hallsville Elementary School’s principal, Christopher MacDonald said, “This service day with City Year and [SNHU] Greek Life is a fantastic opportunity to improve Hallsville, especially the playground and the walls…The kids are going to love all that you have done today. It’s all about the kids and making their lives a little more fun. We want to make this school as warm and welcoming as possible and you all did an absolutely amazing job, it looks incredible . . . I’m looking forward to working with [SNHU and City Year] again . . .it was very well done.” 

IGC Vice President, Julia Ucher, explained the reason behind her organization’s involvement in this service day, “SNHU has done a lot of service, and this is our second time in a Manchester school. There are tons of opportunities [for our students], and you’ll see people doing service at least every Saturday. We require all our members to do at least 10 hours of service every semester. People on Greek life really do enjoy the service and giving back . . . we go wherever the city of Manchester needs us. For some of our members service becomes second nature to them . . . people really enjoy it and it’s great to see the end result.” 
 
“Through City Year’s service opportunities, we look to improve the spaces and places where kids learn and play. Enhancing their physical spaces is just another step we can take to ensure students have the best environments possible to reach their potential as learners and leaders, City Year development director Jen Little said.

“Our partnership with Southern New Hampshire University is a great example of how we can collaborate to benefit the Manchester community as well as each of our organizations. We’ve partnered on training opportunities, service opportunities, and school and student-based opportunities,” Little said. “Our missions are aligned in the way we look to empower young people for future success, whether you are talking about elementary students, college students, or City Year’s AmeriCorps members.” 

During the school year, 55 City Year New Hampshire AmeriCorps members serve full time at eight  elementary schools to provide research-based student, classroom and school-wide supports to help students stay in school and on track to graduate from high school, ready for college and career success. With support from local sponsors, including the City of Manchester and Manchester School District, Comcast NBCUniversal, and the Lois G. Roy Dickerman Foundation, City Year New Hampshire’s trained near-peer AmeriCorps members serve in schools full time as mentors, tutors and role models. They help students build the skills and mindsets required to succeed in school and in life.  

Interested in a year of national service? Learn more about how to join City Year at www.cityyear.org 

For more information on getting involved with City Year New Hampshire, www.cityyear.org/newhampshire