New students start with community service
Durham, NC – The Class of 2028 Project BUILD team recently hit the streets of Durham. A part of Duke’s Experiential Orientation, BUILD is an acronym that stands for Building Undergraduate Involvement in the Life of Durham. The program immerses new students into the surrounding community from their very first day on campus.
Crew leader Amalia Desir shared, “The BUILD community is very tight and I’ve met some of my best friends in BUILD. I started at Duke by doing BUILD during my orientation. Now I’m a senior and a crew leader and I’m jealous of these new students and all the time they have ahead of them.”
On Monday, one crew of BUILDers braved a hot corner in the Lakewood neighborhood to create a structure where residents can share seeds and plants to encourage the growth of home gardens, especially for healthy produce. Under the direction of Bull City Woodshop Founder and Executive Director Andrea Bowens, the group spent two hours leveling the ground and installing high-quality shelving.
Bowens came across the neighborhood plant exchange on social media. When she saw that their makeshift structures were damaged, she saw an opportunity to help. She expressed her appreciation for having some enthusiastic students help make the idea happen.
Bowens said, “We are working with a couple of BUILD teams this week. Some will be in our workshop and this one out here on site. These students are refreshing to work with, ready to jump in.”
She explained this activity is part of an ongoing relationship. “Duke has been a great partner. We’ve gotten a couple of grants. They helped to fund dust collection system upgrades in our shop, which were huge. Then, the grant for this project is helping us do outreach in the community.”
The funding for the Bull City Woodshop seed library was raised by Duke employees during the annual Doing Good campaign.
During the 2024 orientation, BUILD teams completed multiple volunteer assignments with organizations such as TROSA, Bull City Woodshop and area parks. They prepped for these experiences by participating in a Foundations of Engagement session with Sarah Cline, Senior Program Coordinator at Duke Community Affairs.
Desir shared that after starting her time at Duke with Project BUILD she found Duke Partnership for Service (dPS) an easy way to volunteer regularly with community organizations who request complementary help. dPS 2024-25 fellowship applications are open now through Sept. 2.
As she summed it up: “I was big on community service and my mom was always big on it, so I was happy to do it.”
Photos by Dhruv Rungta and Aimee Munsell
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