Common Ground calls for awareness
Community, participant and student awareness was what Common Ground, an organization that seeks to provide meaningful outdoor activities to disabled and community members, was aiming for at their promotional day on the TSC Patio Thursday.
Common Ground was established in 1993 as an America Core Vista program and has evolved into a volunteer organization that aims to activate people and get them involved with the community, said Emily Shor, outreach volunteer coordinator of Common Ground.
“There are a lot of cool people who work (at the university). We want to get them involved and excited,” Shor said.
The organization has recently been brought to campus by the new club Aggies for Common Ground. Rachael Senft, senior in social work and coordinator for the club, said some of their goals include gaining more awareness from the student population and involvement from the university.
“We want more students volunteering, more participants and the resources that the university has to offer. We want to continue to be clear and visible on campus so that students can be aware and join,” Senft said.
The organization and club both seek to help the community see the opportunities that they have to participate in outdoor adventures with disabled persons.
“We will be working closely with the student center,” Shor said. “We feel that the student body is virtually an untapped, valuable resource.”
Currently the organization has approximately 2,000 volunteers with the organization. However, there are only 30 volunteers who actively participate in Common Ground events, Shor said.
Common Ground does various adventures throughout the year, traveling to various parts of the state to help community members connect with the outdoors, Shor said.
“We take big trips to Southern Idaho, and all the major parks in Southern Utah. We also do a lot of things here in Logan, up Logan Canyon,” she said.
Activities in the past have included trips to Yellowstone, Zion and the San Juan River. The organization’s big winter activity will be their ski trip this December, where new volunteers are welcome, Shor said.
In November the group will be doing art projects and in December, along with the ski trip, Common Ground will be going ice skating. Students who want to participate can call Shor at 713-0288. To join on campus, Aggies for Common Ground is still recruiting volunteers and have meetings in the Hub behind Cafe Ibis every Friday at 10 a.m., Senft said.
At the meetings, the club plans activities to coordinate with the organization and collaborate ways to make Common Ground more prominent on campus, to get more students involved in this organization that empowers and focuses on people’s strengths, Senft said.
“Going to college gives people opportunities to help and connect with other people. No matter where you are from, you come to school here and you are part of this community,” Senft said.
–beck.turner@aggiemail.usu.edu