"I always complain about what's wrong in the world, so I thought, maybe I should do something."

That's how one student explains why she got involved with community service learning. Through its Office of Community Service Learning, Commonwealth College (ComCol), the honors college at UMass Amherst, offers students many ways to do something—and earn academic credits. They also get to put classroom theories to the test, try on careers, and feel they're making the world a better place.

Commonwealth College student Hannah Rose Shrimpton '08 is taking a ComCol "Capstone Course" called Service, Technology, and Society. "Over the course of the academic year, I've been working as one of a team of students with the Holyoke-based nonprofit Nuestras Raíces," she says. "We're creating a new Web site and setting them up with a file-sharing and data backup system. It's great because not only are you learning, you are also completing a tangible, real-world project that provides valuable help to a community."

Commonwealth College is growing a generation with a commitment to service. Help us nurture that growth. Your gift can increase student learning and leadership opportunities, develop faculty members' capacity to guide service learning, and strengthen partnerships between the campus and the community.

Give to Commonwealth College today.