Events Calendar

The Spring Housing Blitz organized by Interfaith Action of Central Texas is a one-day event during which Yalies join volunteers from other local organizations to paint and repair homes of senior citizens and disabled individuals who are living in deep poverty. The goal is to keep homeowners safe and help them remain in the homes and neighborhoods they love.

Volunteers will be repainting a house of an elderly resident in Austin, and may do some light repairs. All volunteers must wear a mask, and no more than 10 volunteers can be on site at the same time. On April 17th volunteers will complete work started the previous week.

Who's Coming

Contact: Deidre Dawson '89 PhD

Yale holds its annual marrow donor registration drive in memory of Yale women's ice hockey player Mandi Schwartz. After she was diagnosed with cancer in the fall of 2008 (her junior year), Mandi's search for a genetic match for a stem cell transplant to save her life inspired thousands to sign up as potential marrow or blood stem cell donors. No perfect match was ever found for her. Mandi received a transplant using umbilical cord blood in September 2010, but in December 2010 her cancer returned. She passed away at home in Saskatchewan on Apr. 3, 2011 at the age of 23.

To date, Yale's drives have added more than 7,700 people to the Be The Match registry, including 921 in 2010 -- a record for the "Get in the Game. Save a Life." program. 

At least 74 life-saving matches for patients in need have been located through these efforts.

Here is how you can help save a life by swabbing your cheek:

• Join the Be The Match Registry by going to https://join.bethematch.org/YaleSaves
  OR
• Join the Be The Match Registry by texting YaleSaves to 61474

Hear and see how Philippi, site of two YASC service trips, is facing its ongoing challenges during the pandemic as part of this update and virtual tour with Scott Clarke '02, founder and executive director of Amandla Development, and Darsha Indrajith, communications and development associate of Amandla Development.

In addition, they will present a virtual service opportunity for Yale alumni, family, and friends to read books along with students in Philippi this spring. We hope you can join us and learn more how you can volunteer! 

Yale School of Nursing’s 6th Annual Yale Day of Service project Newborns in Need will take place virtually from Sunday, May 1 to Monday, May 31. This year instead of being able to meet in person to pack bags of baby items for our birth center, we ask you donate to Newborns in Need. 

The fundraiser will provide newborn babies with wipes, diapers, and a baby book to help them get off on the right foot. Donations go to New Haven hospitals and clinics to distribute to mothers in need and help launch the “Newborns in Need in a Box” program in 2022. By packaging our service project as a defined toolkit with guidance (“in a box”), alumni volunteers throughout the United States can host their own Newborns in Needs service project.

With your support, YSN will provide seed funds, administrative guidance, and road-tested advice for alumni to launch a Newborn in Needs project in their community. We are excited to broaden the reach of the most popular Yale Day of Service event to bring together alumni across the country. Funds raised may go towards the financial needs that come with hosting the service project, including:

• Delivery of bags to sites
• Food for volunteers
• Backfilling baby items needed to make a complete bag

Facts & Impact

• An adequate supply of diapers can cost over $100 per month.
• In poor and low-income families, a baby can spend a day or longer in one diaper, leading to potential health and abuse risks.
• In 2019 we helped 375 newborn babies enter the world on the right foot with a bag filled with diapers, wipes, body wash, a onesie, socks, a hat, a board book, and a blanket.

This campaign is co-sponsored by Future Leaders of Yale, Yale Child Study Center, Yale Department of Pediatrics, Yale Latino Networking Group, Yale Working Women’s Network, and YaleWomen of Connecticut.

Volunteers needed to remove invasive species in the Lake Bluff Open Lands. 

Participants should bring their own work gloves and a large black garbage bag, and wear long sleeves and pants.

Everyone must wear a mask and social distancing requirements will be in place.

Who's Coming

Contact: Martha Arroyo '91

Callen-Lorde Community Health Center is an amazing place that cares for LGBTQ+ patients in New York City regardless of their ability to pay. CL is a lifeline for thousands of people across the city. Joining the Rainbow Walk means supporting a crucial community resource at a moment when ever more New Yorkers have come to depend on it.

To participate in this run/walk, volunteers should join the team We Stop for Eagles (named after the eagle who lives in Prospect Park) through the registration link. Then donate, and/or walk or run 5K or 10K between May 8-15.

Be sure to leave a message when you register telling us that you're with Yale Day of Service

Contact: Charlotte Brooks '93

The Yale Club at the Peninsula in consort with Destined to Win Ministries of Hampton, VA, and the Girl Scouts will be hosting a food drive to fight hunger within the 7 cities. We encourage all Yale Alumni to come out and bring non-perishable foods or donate a non-perishable tax-deductible monetary gift at the link listed above. This Day of Service site will give Yale alumni the opportunity to better serve their communities in real-time with real issues.

Contact: Dr. Elaine Harding '99 MDiv

The Yale Year of Service Senior Card Craft Project 2021 is a virtual family activity. You are encouraged to create decorative cards at home with your family that will be shared with elderly residents who are memory impaired and either living in Senior Living facilities, your neighborhood or to your own relatives.

The cards can be for any occasion – Happy Birthday, Thinking of You, tell a Joke, draw a picture… using materials you have on hand… paper, markers, crayons, stickers, glitter - whatever you think will bring a smile or cheer to a Senior who is unable to get out and about.

Please take pictures of your creations (and creators) and share them on social media using #YaleDayOfService and #YaleAlumni. If you are in the New Haven area, I would be happy to collect your cards and deliver them to a local Senior facility. Thanks for helping brighten a Senior’s day!

See who's registered

Contact: Kyle Higgins, Yale School of Public Health