How Alumni Volunteered During Pro Humanitate Days

Photo courtesy of Open Hand

Nearly 20 alumni clubs and more than 400 Wake Forest University students, faculty and alumni participated in volunteer projects as par of this year's Pro Humanitate Days 4Good, which ran from June 1-4.

In Washington, D.C., alumni helped  outfit a new school library at Excel Academy, a public charter school, assembling furniture, labeling and shelving books and painting. In Nashville, alumni worked for Second Harvest Food Bank.

In Philadelphia, the cause was the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge, while Open Hand, a nonprofit providing home-delivered meals and nutrition care for the sick, disabled and elderly, was the beneficiary in Atlanta.

Kim Shirley (’85), who has served as an alumni council member for six years, came up with the idea for the event, where Wake Foresters could volunteer together no matter where they live. “Education is a privilege and should be more than a diploma on a wall,” she said in a press release. “We need to take all we learned at Wake Forest, and all we continue to learn after we graduate, and use this knowledge to give back to our communities.”

Current students are encouraged to join in with an alumni club to share the experience.

“One thing that unites Wake Foresters is their like-minded belief in the importance of service,” said Molly McBride, the assistant director of marketing and communication in the Office of Personal and Career Development. “Students volunteering side-by-side with alumni is an opportunity to share this fundamental value and build a support network both personally and professionally.”