Co-Ops Lend Labor to Nonprofits

From building homes in Oakland to planting trees in parks, UC Berkeley co-ops have long been a source of direct community involvement in the spirit of their founding principles.

Many students living in University Students’ Cooperative Association housing save money by volunteering directly or through other campus-based organizations instead of organizing fundraising and philanthropy efforts, according to Jonathan Kelly, vice president of external affairs for USCA.

“Our cooperative mindset is one that is in the spirit of community,” Kelly said.

Becca Hunter, recruitment coordinator for the USCA External Affairs Committee said that because the co-ops are funded solely by residents’ rent fees, service projects that require donations are especially difficult on the group. Work with Habitat For Humanity is constantly cancelled because the organization requires a large donation.

Houses in the Greek community are also shifting their focus from philanthropy-based projects to do more work directly involving the community, both as a way to change negative perceptions of the Greek community and to see the immediate results of their service through hands-on work, said Adria Stoliar, philanthropy chair for the Panhellenic Council.

Currently, community service in the Greek community is mandatory and mainly philanthropy-based. Each house has a chosen community organization to which it must donate funds, said Monique Smith of Alpha Chi Omega.

“It would help to be out there doing more active things to bring more enthusiasm towards service,” Stoliar said.

Direct involvement heightens the volunteering experience because it offers a chance of meeting new people, Hunter said.

“Its easier to give someone our labor,” she said.

Members also find it easier to volunteer together, Kelly said, but all projects held by the co-ops are completely voluntary.

“People that are there want to be there,” he said.

Currently, 10 to 15 co-ops are working with the Prisoner’s Literature Project, a nonprofit organization that donates books to prisoners across the country. On Saturday, volunteers mailed out books to prisoners and read letters from inmates across the country requesting different titles.

“The people who volunteer do it with the idea that everyone should have access to learning material,” Emily Cohen, a volunteer with the Prisoner’s Literature Project said.

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