Students and faculty of Tunxis Community College in Farmington engaged in service to the community Oct. 18-24 during “Connecticut Publics Make a Difference Week.”

Activities at Tunxis during the week included the following:

•  The Service Learning Committee held a food drive which collected 223 non-perishable food items for Plainville Community Food Pantry. Plainville Community Food Pantry, Inc. is a non-profit outreach agency that provides food, energy assistance, clothing, crisis intervention and referral services to individuals in need.

• The Human Services Club, Human Services Program and Community Outreach Club held bake sales to benefit Tunxis students in need. The Community Outreach Club sale raised $200 to purchase gift cards for food, which will be distributed by the Counseling Office to students who demonstrate need. A second sale benefitted Kyla’s Kids Fund. Kyla was a Tunxis student who was tragically killed in 2014 in front of her children in a domestic violence murder-suicide by her husband. The fund helps provide for her three children now and as they grow.

• The Clothesline Project exhibit was displayed in the main hall of the 100 Building Oct. 19-23. The Clothesline Project aims to educate the public about the magnitude of the problem of violence against women and to testify to the impact violence has had on the individual, their family, and their friends. The exhibit bears witness to victims’ courage and will to survive, as each shirt acts as a window into the painful life of the woman or child who has had to live with violence or died because of it. The Clothesline Project was brought to Tunxis through the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence. The community was encouraged to decorate t-shirts to donate to the permanent collection.

Connecticut’s public service week, designated as CT Public Higher Education Make a Difference Week—aims to piggyback on the “National Make a Difference Day” campaign and showcase the commitment of the state’s public higher education institutions to a wide range of service activities. The week-long series of public service activities initiated by Tunxis and the other public colleges and universities around the state highlighted the diverse number of community involvement efforts ongoing throughout the year that promote civic engagement, develop students’ citizenship skills, forge community partnerships and integrate service learning and volunteering.

Tunxis contributes service through a diverse range of programs, student club projects and alternative break trips that engage students annually in service to local, state, national and international communities. The diverse range of projects over the years have included providing dental hygiene services for uninsured Connecticut residents, and Central American populations without access to dental care; enlisting as mentor-tutors in the Bristol Public Schools, volunteering for Hands on Hartford’s Peter’s Retreat program, in which students donated food, cooked, and served meals for homeless men and women living with HIV/AIDS; and volunteering at Imagine Nation Museum and Urban Oaks Organic Farm.

Located in Farmington, Tunxis offers over 50 associate’s degrees and certificates, providing critical thinking and problem-solving skills that prepare students for transfer to bachelor’s degree programs and employment in areas with industry need.  For more on Tunxis programs, please call 860.773.1300, or visit the Tunxis website at tunxis.edu.