Green Mountain College
IN-4: Innovation 4

The Thanks & Giving program is an annual one-day service initiative stemming from a much larger community building effort. The first annual Thanks and Giving day in November of 2013 wedded the College and the Town in a collaborative effort to build social capital among the community and lay the groundwork for countless projects and partnerships throughout the year. The planning of the event involved a team of 20 students working with various community leaders to identify problems in the community and on campus that could be addressed by extensive volunteer service. Unlike many service events, this one made it possible for community members to work on the campus at the same time that students could work in the town. The event embodied a full integration of College and Town, starting with a community breakfast on Main Street served by college students, followed by several hours of service, followed by a community lunch at another location served by local high school students, followed by more service, and culminating in a community dinner at the campus dining hall. Service efforts including clearing trails, cleaning out college storage closets, picking up litter from natural areas, painting, volunteering at the food shelf and senior center and many other activities. The meals were served in a festive environment to cultivate celebration and stimulate bonding between groups. The event represented a larger context than simply a day of service and therefore exceeds the requirements for related STARS credits. The program supported advancement of the town-wide effort to build the vibrancy of the community. The effort is called Poultney 2020, and is a critical element of the College's strategic plan. It is meant to provide a venue to cultivate long-term partnerships and collaborations beyond normal town-gown relations. The collaborations are meant to be deep and long-lasting, resulting in accomplishment of large, shared community goals, as well as building a strong base of social capital. The first set of goals, established democratically by community meetings leading up to the event, include establishment of a downtown public park, revitalization and promotion of an extensive recreational trail system, creation of a localvore restaurant, and creation of a community organization for the arts. Moreover, the process allows for other spontaneously generated collaborations not dictated by a specific town-gown agenda. As a follow-up to Thanks & Giving day, which took place in the fall of 2013, there was a Green Up and Celebrate Poultney day on May 3rd, 2014. The event consisted of a town-wide cleanup for most of the day, culminating in a large celebration from 2:00 to 5:00 pm with live music, free food, displays from all four project-oriented groups, running games, activities for kids, and a long list of artistic workshops and performances.