The students are taking part in Rebuilding Together Worcester, a volunteer organization that partners with corporations, organizations and individuals to rehabilitate the houses of low-income homeowners, including the elderly, disabled, and families with children, so that they may continue to live in safety and independence. The organization also rehabilitates non-profit facilities such as community centers and shelters.
The Class of 2011 became involved in Rebuilding Together Worcester through the efforts of Alison Komorowski ’11 the chair of the service committee. She volunteered last year after receiving a campus-wide e-mail from Joshua Farrell, Thomas E. D’Ambra associate professor of chemistry, who has organized a Holy Cross delegation for Rebuilding Together Worcester for several years.
After spending her day working with a friend at the home of an elderly Worcester resident, Komorowski says, she “left feeling as if we had really made a difference. We really enjoyed the afternoon and thought it was important that we take time to serve the Worcester community.”
Komorowski, an economics major with a premedical concentration from Kearny, N.J., brought the event to the attention of her fellow class officers. “I came back to campus and immediately proposed to Joe Caravella, president of the Class of 2011, that we volunteer as a class the following April,” she says.
When the volunteer coordinator for Rebuilding Together Worcester contacted her with participation details, Komorowski and the rest of the officers sent out a message to their class and encouraged them to sign up. The response was encouraging.
“We have about 30 students from the Class of 2011,” Komorowski says, “I’m so excited we received a positive response from our classmates to be able to volunteer for this service project together.”
Though the students do not yet know exactly where they will be placed they will likely be involved in a myriad of duties, including painting, raking, landscaping, actual building — “essentially any type of reconstructive work,” says Komorowski.
Regardless of the location, the class of 2011 will be adding to last year’s accomplishments of the Rebuilding Together Worcester workers, who, in one weekend, managed to renovate 10 homes and three institutional buildings.
By Ross Weisman ’09
Pictured: Alison Komorowski '11
