As many Saint Peter’s students know, service is a major component of a Jesuit education and each year more than 800 Saint Peter’s students contribute a combined total of approximately 16,000 hours of service to local, national and global organizations.
Erich Sekel, associate director of campus ministry for community service, is always seeking ways for University students to become more involved in the community and today’s volunteer orientation to GlamourGals is an example of an outcome from that effort.
GlamourGals Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring and organizing teens to provide ongoing companionship and complimentary beauty makeovers to residents in senior homes. The Foundation was established in 2000 and has nearly 85 chapters in 16 states with 1,600 volunteers.
In October 2013, GlamourGals established the GlamourGals Foundation Service Scholarship at Saint Peter’s University. Any GlamourGals volunteer who meets the established community service and academic requirements is eligible for the scholarship to the University. The scholarship will award $60,000 towards tuition and $16,000 towards housing, over the course of four years, to its volunteers.
“Service is a major component of a Jesuit education and at Saint Peter’s, we call on each and every student to be men and women for others,” said Jeffrey Handler, vice president for enrollment management and marketing at Saint Peter’s University. “The GlamourGals Foundation instills the spirit of volunteerism in countless teenagers, which makes them the ideal candidates to join the Saint Peter’s community. We are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to begin this strategic and creative alignment between our organizations and we look forward to welcoming volunteers of GlamourGals to our campus.”
In order to further expand the relationship with Saint Peter’s and GlamourGals beyond the GlamourGals Foundation Service Scholarship, Kavita Mehra, vice president of GlamourGals, came to the University to host a volunteer orientation for Saint Peter’s students. A number of students from a wide variety of academic programs ranging from engineering to nursing to education attended the event. The orientation served as the first step in the process of the development of a GlamourGals chapter at Saint Peter’s.
“We are very excited about the recent announcement of the GlamourGals Foundation Service Scholarship at Saint Peter’s and we are looking forward to deepening our relationship through the establishment of a GlamourGals chapter at the University,” said Mehra. “Through this relationship we are engaging students who are already committed to service and the synergies between both organizations are so in line it makes for an ideal partnership.”
While the orientation taught students about all of the benefits the seniors would gain from the experience, they also learned about all of the personal advantages. Volunteers will not only feel personal satisfaction from their commitment to the seniors, but they will also learn from them.
Saint Peter’s students will also have the opportunity to become involved in the GlamourGals internship program. Through an internship with GlamourGals, students will gain hands-on experience in entrepreneurship and the non-profit sector by working with the GlamourGals staff who have nearly 30 years of cumulative experience. Students will intern full-time with GlamourGals during the summer and are automatically invited to apply for the GlamourGals Fellowship Program, which offers an additional year of work experience with a $5,000 stipend.
“In Kavita’s presentation we learned about the loneliness that many seniors in nursing homes experience. I already spend time at nursing homes as a volunteer and I have experienced that loneliness firsthand,” said Ashley Soto ’16. “I am a nursing major and in my career I will encounter difficult situations. I feel that my experience with GlamourGals will help me prepare for that challenge. I would also like to give back to the community and this is a great opportunity for me to do that.”