UK Service Corps Bridges the Gap Between UK and the Community

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 5, 2017)  — Not all learning is confined to the classroom. University of Kentucky students have the opportunity to serve the Lexington community while earning course credit. The UK Service Corps provides UK students meaningful engagement opportunities with local youth while engaging in hands-on learning and community development.

UK Service Corps student leaders have the opportunity to enroll in the experiential learning program, offered by the UK Career Center, for three credit hours. Students will participate in a hybrid course where they will do half of the class online and the other portion in the community. The students will leave the course with knowledge on important societal issues, such as poverty and education disparities, as well as earning credit hours.

UK Service Corps Recruitment and Marketing Chair Veronica Scott knows firsthand the eye-opening experience volunteering can have on the life of a college student.

“There are entirely different worlds two streets away from campus. There is a huge need that UK students can plug into,” Scott said.

The UK Service Corps was founded in 2014 and focused on forming long-term, sustained and trusting bonds between children in the Lexington community and UK students. The organization currently sends 11 groups of students to five community sites on a weekly basis. Students fill a void and provide positive, stable adult relationships that these children may not have otherwise.

The UK Service Corps provided over 1,770 hours of service to the Lexington community last year. The organization strives to do more in the coming year, and is focused on expanding its reach to an additional service site, as well as increasing involvement at the sites being currently served.

For more information on the UK Service Corps, please visit www.ukcco.org/programs/ukservicecorps/.