Community Engagement and Service Learning

Students volunteer in the Nutrition Assistance Program, with Health & Wellness, and Computer Instruction.

The Food Bank for Westchester serves over 265 local hunger-relief programs throughout Westchester, including food pantries, soup kitchens, child and adult day-care centers, and shelters. The Food Bank provides 95% of all the food given to hungry families, children and seniors as cooked meals or groceries to take home.

It's more than just providing the medical brigade for the spring break week. It's a huge volunteer opportunity, because students are required spend the whole year fundraising and getting medications/medical supplies. They also recruit doctors and dentists, as well as prepare health education for kids. For the actual brigade itself, we treat around 700 patients in hard-to-reach places in Honduras and provide things from basic painkillers to BP medication to parasite meds to sunscreen (they often work outside all day and have major skin issues) to glasses for reading. Cases that are complex can be referred out to hospitals, and our organization also pays for all the medical care that they will need for the referral. The person running the trip this year is Kaitlin Swanson, but I'll be happy to provide more information if needed since I started the brigade second year.

Students volunteer in the soup kitchen, men’s homeless shelter, and housing services office.

Offers individuals who are homeless, shelter for the night. Also provides homeless men, women, and veterans social services, clothing and transportation. Homeless adults 18 years and older. Grasslands Homeless Shelter is a 149-bed facility providing temporary housing to men, women, and childless couples.

Students volunteer in the soup kitchen and food pantry.

Students volunteer at the Woodfield Cottage Juvenile Detention Facility, which houses children ages 10 to 16 who have been charged with crimes and are awaiting the judicial process. Once a week groups of NYMC students spend some time with the residents of Woodfield Cottage, playing games such as charades, scattergories, and basketball. Our goal is to create an enjoyable atmosphere for the children and act as the role models they may not otherwise have.

Students organize three blood drives every year and NYMC recently won an award for blood donations to the surrounding community.

The Ossining Food Pantry helps over 400 people per week. Clients include single people, couples, parents with children, senior citizens struggling to get by on Social Security, the newly unemployed, the underemployed, individuals returning to society after incarceration, veterans, the sick who cannot work and the well who cannot make ends meet under current circumstances. They can be men, women or children, young or old, new to the Ossining area or long-time residents. But all are hungry. The pantry is a very well-run organization that provides weekly household food supplies to families (with portions given depending on the family size).

A small group of students take the lead in organizing dates and times when other students at the school can take the opportunity to sign up to help prepare a meal for 30+ individuals at the Westchester Medical Center Ronald McDonald House. Each meal takes about 2-3 hours to prepare, after which student volunteers are responsible for cleaning up the kitchen and arranging the meal for the houseguests to help themselves. It is a very easy-going and rewarding commitment that also gives students the opportunity to meet peers in the other SOM classes.

The Osborn in Rye, New York, has been innovating and exceeding senior living expectations in Westchester County for more than 100 years. We provide independent living with an engaging lifestyle and a continuum of health services.

It is a regional high school science fair hosted in Sleepy Hallow every spring, which NYMC students volunteer to judge. Volunteers specify which fields they are comfortable judging, including biochem, biology, medicine, engineering, etc.