Twenty-three Sarasota businesses and non-profits set up booths at the Volunteer and Internship Fair on Tuesday, Sept. 17. Hamilton “Ham” Center was filled with organizations such as the Sarasota Opera, Florida Walks and Bikes, Meals on Wheels and Manatee County Habitat for Humanity, drawing large numbers of students.
Nicholas Manting-Brewer, New College Volunteer Coordinator, explained the idea behind the event.
“This was really a way for us to introduce students to opportunities, as well as collaborate with Career Services to help students out,” Manting-Brewer said. “We were talking about doing this again in February, to start off the new mod. We’ll invite back a lot of the same organizations and hopefully we’ll expand it to include more.”
The Volunteer and Internship Fair ran for two hours with many students braving the rain to look for volunteer and internship positions.
“We’ve already followed up with a number of these organizations,” Manting-Brewer said. “They’re all very excited. I made sure I spoke with everyone before they left – they were all really grateful and excited by the energy of the students.”
“I don’t think it will be a problem for us to host a similar event in the future,” Manting-Brewer added. “It seems like it was popular among the students. We had a really good turnout.”