Getting Started

Welcome to the Center for Community Outreach! We are so excited to help you find volunteering needs in Douglas County, as we strive to connect all students to service opportunities. Following, is a brief description of our organizational format and two main platforms, as well as steps to get involved. We hope to see you at an event soon!

The CCO is an assemblage of thirteen programs  and a six-person executive staff. As shown on our page titled “Programs” under the “About” module, each program has its own focus around which volunteering opportunities are organized. Each program’s page contains their contact information, as well a more in-depth discussion of their specific community partners as well as regular volunteering opportunities.

The CCO maintains two websites listed as follows: cco.ku.edu and volunteer.ku.edu. A description of each is provided under the drop-down arrows below.

cco.ku.edu

cco.ku.edu is our organizational platform from which we provide information about our organization as well as our impact. Pages that may be useful for new CCO friends are listed and linked as follows: 

  • About > Programs: Supplies program descriptions 
  • Gallery Wall: Photos of past CCO events
  • Sign Up for Our Newsletter: Provides bi-weekly volunteering opportunities
volunteer.ku.edu

volunteer.ku.edu is the Center for Community Outreach’s volunteer platform. Volunteer needs are listed through this website under the tab “Ongoing Needs”. The tab “Special Events” provides opportunities for community-building or advocacy events. In addition, the tab “Programs” allows students to find volunteer needs specific to each program.

In addition, the CCO maintains an Instagram and Facebook page, both of which are updated regularly with upcoming volunteering events. Following one or both of these platforms is a great way to engage with CCO and be notified of ways for current and ongoing engagement!

CCO Instagram

CCO Facebook

STEPS TO GET INVOLVED 

  1. EXPLORE 

If you are interested in volunteering, the first step is to explore both our platforms to either find a program or need that interests you. If you have a defined volunteering niche, exploring our programs may be more beneficial. Likewise, if you are interested in volunteering  in general, exploring our ongoing needs may be useful. 

  1. REGISTER 

The next step once you find an ongoing need you would like to participate in is to register for that need. Please follow along with the video below to do so. If you have issues doing so, please email cco@ku.edu or the program’s emails listed under each program’s page. 

The video above outlines how to register for an event on volunteer.ku.edu!
  1. PARTICIPATE 

Now the fun part: Participating in the event! We are so excited for you to volunteer and hope you have a great time doing so! If you experience a change to your availability before the event, please communicate that with us so that we can inform our community partners of this change. 

  1. TRACK 

After the event please record your volunteering hours using the video below. This step allows us to accurately track our volunteer impact. This step is also important for measuring your individual impact on the Lawrence community in your time as a KU student!

This video outlines the steps necessary to track your volunteering hours utilizing the volunteer.ku.edu site!

Your all set! Keep exploring this site to learn more, we cant wait to see you at an event!