Lost Your Internship This Summer? Find Virtual Opportunities With Community Organizations in Lexington

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 27, 2020) — One of the many unfortunate consequences of the COVID-19 epidemic was the cancellation of summer internship opportunities for University of Kentucky students.

To help bridge the gap this summer for students, as well as to provide support to Lexington-area nonprofits negatively impacted by COVID-19, the UK Center for Service-Learning and Civic Engagement has developed two tools to help students identify possible organizations to intern or serve with remotely. 

Through a survey completed with Lexington-area nonprofits in April, the center developed a database of remote service-learning, internship, micro-internship, research and volunteer opportunities available to students, faculty and staff. 

The Community Organizational Needs Database allows users to filter organizations based on sectors of interest and organizational needs. Students can find organizations based on their own particular interests and passions as well as needs that fit their specific skillset, such as social media, communications, marketing, accounting, graphic design, videography, or up to 50 other disciplines.

Similarly, faculty can find potential partners for service-learning or community-based courses in the fall based on their own course or discipline.

And, all of these opportunities can be completed remotely. Each entry has organizational contact information to start the connection.

The second tool is the Kentucky Nonprofit Map project. Created by Grace Ragain, an AmeriCorps VISTA advisor at the UK Center for Service-Learning and Civic Engagement, these Google-based maps identify hundreds of nonprofits in Lexington and across the Commonwealth. The maps are color-coded based on sector and include direct links to nonprofit websites. Students can find nonprofits located directly in their hometowns and counties. While hundreds of pins have been placed on the map, it is still a work in progress with completion expected in June.

These tools were created to help point students and faculty in the right direction and help them start a connection with community organizations. The center encourages interested students to contact organizations directly to inquire into details about identified needs and about how they may be able to assist them. 

Of course, students should also regularly check UK’s Stuckert Career Center Handshake page for new internship positions as well as other career development opportunities and events.

For more information about these tools, please contact Grace Ragain at Grace.Ragain@uky.edu.