Emory Cares International Service Day celebrates its 15th anniversary on Saturday, Nov. 10, with its mission of serving humanity going strong and spreading throughout the globe.

Founded in 2003 by Renelda Mack 83C, a former Emory Alumni Board president, the popular annual tradition is a partnership between the Emory Alumni Association and Volunteer Emory.

Students, staff, faculty and alumni of Emory can sign up for a variety of service projects, from down the street in Atlanta to around the world.

Several local area projects are already filled. These include packing meals at Open Hand Atlanta; organizing the thrift store for Friends of Disabled Adults and Children; LifeLine Animal Project; and helping put together pieces of the AIDS memorial quilt to ship across the United States for the NAMES Project Foundation.

However, there are many projects to choose from. Here are just a few:

• Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition: help package Naloxone kits, condom kits, testing kits and help prepare outreach supplies and fold brochures
• Atlanta Hospital Hospitality House: help with organizing, cleaning, and landscaping
• Center for Pan Asian Community Services: help with beautification projects including yard work, deep cleaning of the building and organizing storage space
• Atlanta Hospital Hospitality House: help with organizing, cleaning and landscaping
• Chattahoochee Nature Center: help remove invasive plants and restore native habitats
• Friends of Kittredge Park: help clean the park and plant native plants
• Friends of Frazier-Rowe Park: help plant bulbs and other plants, carry wood chips to existing trails and help maintain the park
• Truly Living Well: help with a beautification project by filling beds with soil, planting seeds, producing bundles for farmer's markets and helping mulch designated areas with wood chips
• Sagamore Hills Elementary School: help weed, harvest and plant the school garden
• 4Sarah: help organize inside house work items for the safehouse

Participants in these projects, which are organized through Volunteer Emory, will meet at 11 a.m. Saturday morning on the Emory Quad for the kickoff. Transportation is being provided for all Emory Cares Day service trips and participants must take the provided transportation. Register here.

Projects at Oxford College 

Oxford participants will gather at Candler Hall on the campus to help with one of two projects.

Oxford alumni, students, faculty and staff are volunteering to pack donated toiletries into shoe boxes for children served by Newton County Foster Care.

Donated items sought for the foster care program include toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, soap, lotion, lip balm, sunblock, brushes, combs, hair accessories, tissue packs, socks, gift cards, coloring books, school supplies, playing cards, small games, comic books, notecards, books or magazines, and small writing journals. Participants are invited to bring the entire family (ages 3 and up) and empty shoe boxes for the donations.

Volunteers with Oxford Athletics and the Center for Healthful Living will also help clear Oxford’s Nature Trail. 

Participants for the Oxford projects must register and lunch and free T-shirts will be provided with registration. 

Alumni projects in Atlanta and around the world

Emory alumni have organized a variety of projects in the cities where they live, with more than 20 projects in Atlanta and more than 40 projects in other cities across the U.S.

Some are sponsored by affinity groups such as LGBT Alumni, UPS Goizueta@Work, Emory Muslim Alumni, the caucus of Emory Black Alumni, Golden Alumni and many more. 

Nine international projects are scheduled. In Korea, for example, alums will deliver alternative heating fuel for those in need. Shanghai alumni, family and friends will volunteer at Shanghai Healing Home, helping care for young children who have had surgery. 

Canadian alumni and their family and friends will participate in a speed mentoring program to help point the way to success for new job searchers in Canada, helping them overcome unrecognized professional credentials, lack of Canadian experience and no existing professional network.

See the full list of 2018 alumni projects. Those who want to participate but don’t have projects in their area can volunteer for any local nonprofit or organization as a part of Emory Cares Everywhere.