The Pro Bono & Community Service Initiative Hosts Spring Service Activities Meeting to Educate Students about Service At DePaul

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(PBCSI Student Site Coordinators, PBCSI Director Cheryl Price, and Child and Family Law Fellows make presentations about service opportunities at the Pro Bono & Community Service Initiative's Spring 2012 Service Activities Meeting)

DePaul’s Pro Bono & Community Service Initiative (“PBCSI”) held its Spring  Service Activities Meeting on Thursday, January 19, 2012 at the College of Law.  The goal of the Spring Service Activities Meeting was to educate students about PBCSI and the various volunteer opportunities it offers.  PBCSI is run by an attorney Director and works to facilitate pro bono and community service work among DePaul’s law students, faculty, and staff.  PBCSI gives out service awards at an annual reception to those students who complete at least 50 hours of volunteer work while at DePaul. 

PBCSI’s Spring Service Meeting began with information about PBCSI’s six partner organizations, which include Cabrini Green Legal Aid, The Center for Disability & Elder Law, Lawyers in the Classroom, The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights’ New Americans Initiative, A.N. Pritzker Elementary School, and DePaul Student Legal Services.  PBCSI’s Student Site Coordinators, David Zwaska (Class of 2012) and Rebecca Birger (Class of 2013), gave presentations about these sites and answered students’ questions about volunteering.  Student Site Coordinator, Chastidy Burns (Class of 2012), informed students about PBCSI’s Spring 2012 Donate-A-Day events, which are discrete, day-long volunteer opportunities that do not require any sort of long-term time commitment.  PBCSI’s next Donate-A-Day is co-sponsored by UMIN in the Loop and is scheduled for Saturday, January 28, 2012 with Ladder Up’s Tax Assistance Project.  Loop students and alumni will prepare tax returns for low-income individuals to increase the amount of their refunds.  PBCSI’s February Donate-A-Day is being planned in conjunction with DePaul’s Veterans Assistance Service Organization and will take place on Saturday, February 11, 2012.  Law students will assist with the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center’s Valentine’s Day Concert for Veterans.  Law students will put on a mock trial and mock law school lesson for Pritzker Elementary 6th graders for PBCSI’s March Donate-A-Day.

Representatives from DePaul’s Child & Family Law Center and Asylum & Immigration Law Clinic were also at the meeting.  They provided detailed information about their upcoming service opportunities, including, among other things, the Domestic Violence Courthouse Project and the U-Visa Project.   Students also learned about pro bono opportunities with the Chicago Law & Education Foundation, Illinois Legal Aid Online, Catholic Charities, and Bennu Legal Services.   

PBCSI’s Spring Service Activities Meeting was a great success.  Approximately 50 students attended the meeting and all were enthusiastic and excited to learn more about PBCSI and volunteering.   

    For more information about PBCSI, please contact PBCSI Director, Cheryl Price at cprice13@depaul.edu.