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International Student Volunteers to recruit on campus

Classes may be interrupted for a brief announcement from International Student Volunteers during the first of week of the fall semester at Cal State Long Beach.

ISV is an international, non-profit organization that will be on campus recruiting students to participate in international “volunteer and adventure programs,” according to the brochure that recruiters will be handing out this week in classrooms and all over campus.

The organization provides students with opportunities to travel to foreign countries and complete various volunteer projects, from rehabilitating forest habitats in New Zealand to building homes and schools in the Dominican Republic.

The “adventure” component of the program offers students opportunities to participate in activities such as snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, heading out on a safari in Kruger National Park or visit elephant conservation centers in Thailand.

ISV recruiter Sarah Garza was one of several recruiters at CSULB housing move-in day on Saturday, and she said students tend to miss out on the opportunity because of the craziness of the first week of classes.

Garza said this program has partnered with the CSULB Multi-Cultural Center and has come to campus regularly for the past several years to inform students of the various international volunteer and travel opportunities that ISV can provide.

In the moments before classes begins this week, ISV recruiters will ask professors and lecturers if they can make a brief announcement to the students in the course.

These announcements will include information about the program, and they will also encourage students to attend various information sessions, which will take place on Thursday.

On Thursday, starting at 9 a.m., ISV will offer 45-minute information sessions in the multi-cultural center Faculty Office 3 Room 2. These sessions will take place “every hour, on the hour,” Garza said.

The last of these meetings will conclude at 6 p.m., but recruiters will “stick around until 6:30 p.m., in case any students have last-minute questions,” Garza said

Over the past 30 years, ISV has partnered with Habitat for Humanity, Conservation Volunteers, Peace Corps, Red Cross, UNICEF and Sierra Club to provide student opportunities in several countries around the world, including Costa Rica, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Dominican Republic and South Africa.

The very bottom of the back cover of the ISV brochure indicates that students who participate in ISV “will receive tips and resources from ISV to help [students] raise funds for [their] program costs.”

These tips will focus on ideas for students to seek sponsorships from local businesses, Garza said. She said that “the students who had the most success last year contacted friends, family, local community groups and so forth” to raise the funds they needed for traveling with ISV.

Garza said via email that the information sessions on Thursday will include a promo video, which she said can serve as a fundraising tool for students. She also said that, once a space is reserved, ISV will send a link to fundraising resources, including a letter that can be customized and sent to friends and family.

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