About News Batten Builds: A Day in Photographs Sep 09, 2021 Lindsay Stuart Hill Batten Builds: A Day in Photographs After a challenging year and a half, Batten students were especially excited to serve their community in person. Students prepare food at The Haven, a day shelter and resource hub for unhoused people in Charlottesville. (Photo by Tom Cogill)A tradition that goes back more than a decade, Batten Builds is an annual day of service for the Batten community. More than 200 people participated this year, assisting local nonprofits by painting, mulching, weeding, washing, filing, organizing, posting flyers, packing donation bags, and more. Both after the talks and after their volunteering assignments, many students approached nonprofit leaders to discuss longer term partnering opportunities. “It was great to see them forming those relationships,” said organizer Ned Flanagan (BA ’22). After a difficult year and a half, the day was a chance for new beginnings. Here are a few scenes captured during the event. Students help organize supplies at The Haven. (Photo by Tom Cogill)More than 20 community organizations welcomed Batten students to their locations. “One thing I noticed was that the sites were really eager to work with us,” said Harini Peri (BA ’22), who coordinated the on-site volunteering. “Most of the sites we reached out to we ended up working with, and that was great—especially because students were so excited to get back into the community and volunteer again after so long.” Two Batten BA students express their enthusiasm while showing off the reusable water bottles they received during the event. (Photo by Jessica Pentel)After the pandemic limited our involvement with organizations at UVA, it was really fun to organize a service event for the Batten community,” said McClain Moran (BA ’22), who helped arrange the speaker series. “It was a great way to start our year—in person, with our cohort.” A student posts a flyer for the Sexual Assault Resource Agency on a bulletin board in New Cabell Hall. (Photo by Julia Schopper)Rather than choosing where they wanted to volunteer, students were assigned to sites at random. “We have a tendency to gravitate toward places we’ve volunteered before or that feel more familiar or comfortable,” said organizer Harini Peri. “But when you randomize things, students have the opportunity to open their minds to something new.” Batten students at the Ronald MacDonald House painted stones to line the pathway where visitors line up for the shuttle to the hospital.(Photo by Tom Cogill)For families with children undergoing serious medical treatment, Charlottesville’s Ronald MacDonald House offers a supportive sanctuary. Batten students were tasked with painting stones to line the pathway where visitors line up for the shuttle to the hospital. Volunteer Katie Cox (MPP ‘22) kept the families in mind as she worked. “I was trying to convey uplifting messages,” she said. Two student volunteers at the Ronald MacDonald House prepare a meal for guests at the house, who stay there while their children are in the hospital. (Photo by Jessica Pentel)“At Batten, we learn a lot about how we can be more effective policy makers in the future,” said organizer Harini Peri. “So it was nice in a less formalized and more local way to ask, ‘What can we do now?’” Student volunteers string up lights at Camp Holiday Trails. (Photo by Ned Flanagan)Although students came prepared to help with grounds maintenance at Camp Holiday Trails, a local community for children with medical needs, the temperatures soared into the 90s that day. Instead, the volunteers strung up lights in the camp’s dining hall. “They told us the kids really like having lights in the rafters at night because it looks like stars,” said organizer Ned Flanagan. Student volunteers pose under the lights they used to decorate the dining hall at Camp Holiday Trails, a year-round camp for children with medical needs. (Photo by Tom Cogill)Before the launch of this year’s Batten Builds, student organizers worked with dean of students Jill Rockwell to come up with a theme for the event. “New horizons” felt like a good fit. “We knew that we would finally have the opportunity to engage in person again with these community partners,” organizer Ned Flanagan said, “so we thought, ‘Let's do it intentionally, with respect for the people we're working with—and also with a sense of gratitude and hope.’” Jill Rockwell Jill oversees the administrative units of student affairs, and career services, working with the other members of the student services team to strengthen students’ co-curricular and career-related experiences at the Batten School. Read full bio Related Content Jill Rockwell Batten Food Drive Supports 120 Local Families Through Partnership with Madison House News Launched as part of a new partnership between Batten and Madison House, the Batten School’s holiday food drive aims to provide 120 local families with a hearty traditional meal this season. The Batten School Announces Class of 2021 Winners of the Pilot and Legacy Awards News The Pilot and Legacy Awards are the most prestigious student-nominated awards for graduating MPP and BA students. This year, a record number of nominations were submitted by Batten students, faculty and staff who were impacted by Batten’s Class of 2021. Stay Up To Date with the Latest Batten News and Events Subscribe
Jill Rockwell Jill oversees the administrative units of student affairs, and career services, working with the other members of the student services team to strengthen students’ co-curricular and career-related experiences at the Batten School. Read full bio
Batten Food Drive Supports 120 Local Families Through Partnership with Madison House News Launched as part of a new partnership between Batten and Madison House, the Batten School’s holiday food drive aims to provide 120 local families with a hearty traditional meal this season.
The Batten School Announces Class of 2021 Winners of the Pilot and Legacy Awards News The Pilot and Legacy Awards are the most prestigious student-nominated awards for graduating MPP and BA students. This year, a record number of nominations were submitted by Batten students, faculty and staff who were impacted by Batten’s Class of 2021.