The university has always thrived itself on being an important part of its community, and volunteering is a great way to get involved.
Eight to 10 years ago, Capital developed a community service group called Saturday Services that ran through the SCE. In this group, they go complete one act of community service once a month on a Saturday.
However, the group fell off for a while and the SCE decided that they wanted to bring it back this spring semester. They wanted a facility to narrow in on to work on community building and development.
Sophia Bucci, sophomore marketing major who works with the SCE, said that the SCE chose to partner with a partner branch that the university has previously worked with, Stepping Stones. The partner branch is Dreams on Horseback.
Stepping Stones and Dreams on Horseback are partnering facilities focusing on horseback riding and other horse involvement such as racing.
Stepping Stones focuses primarily on able-bodied children riding there.
Capital chose to focus on Dreams on Horseback to have a consistent facility to be a part of and because they were more inclusive in who could ride and be a part of the program. Volunteers at this facility participated in tasks such as grooming, painting equipment, and cleaning.
Dreams on Horseback is a bigger facility, and allows people with disabilities to participate in activities. This includes children with autism, veterans, people with Alzheimer’s, and more.
Thus far, there has been one Saturday service since classes has been back in session for spring semester.
Bucci said that this piqued her interest because she loves animals and children. Her favorite part of volunteering for this facility is the grooming.
Autumn Campbell, senior AYA integrated language arts and creative writing major is also a part of this program. One of her favorite parts of volunteering is also grooming because she loves animals.
“I think this project is important because Dreams on Horseback makes available riding lessons for people with disabilities,” Campbell said. “They don’t turn away anyone. They have riders who are in wheelchairs, have autism, can’t speak, have dementia, anything like that. It’s a really beautiful way to connect with someone else, and it gives them an opportunity that they never dreamed they’d be able to have.”
Anyone can be a part of this program and sign ups are announced a week before each service day. The dates will be announced on Stall Talks.
Contact the SCE for more information.
