UW-Madison students flooded Badger Volunteers registration this weekend, with more than 500 students signing up within the first 24 hours.
Badger Volunteers is a semester-long program that matches student volunteers with a site in the Madison community, like an elementary school or a food bank, where they give part of their time on a weekly basis.
“Through Badger Volunteers, students are using their time, their talents, their skills and their energy to contribute to local community outside of our campus bubble,” volunteer coordinator Kari Temkin said.
Temkin and Steph Harrill make up the program’s professional staff, and their presence in the organization has made it possible to accommodate more student volunteers as well as provide leadership training for returning members.
“I was able to have one-on-one meetings with 60 Badger Volunteer leaders last semester,” Temkin said. “Simply with my role added, we have capacity to support more students.”
Returning Badger Volunteers, or leaders, are essential to the organization’s continued growth and success, Temkin said. Each site has a leader who serves as a resource to the new program participants, as well as volunteers alongside them.
The Badger Volunteer executive board started the New Leader Network to facilitate check-ins and socials, and they will be working to set up a support system that they previously have not had, Temkin said.
In addition to the roles of leader and executive board member, Badger Volunteers also offers specialized internships to former volunteers.
Rae Monte, the group’s educational programming intern and senior at UW-Madison, programs up to 15 education sessions for members to attend. This semester her sessions will emphasize public health, sustainability and education.
“It’s mainly to give students a broader idea of issues facing Madison and why we do service,” Monte said. “The program is really great because you don’t just volunteer, but you reflect on why you’re doing what you’re doing and its effect on the community.”
Before getting her internship, Monte was a member of Badger Volunteers for seven semesters. She said being involved for so long allowed her to track growth in the student she tutored.
“I worked at the same elementary school for two sessions and tutored one girl both times. I got to know her well, and helping her understand the math and how excited she was when she got it was really meaningful,” Monte said. “That’s what I liked a lot about tutoring is you could see the immediate difference that you made.”
