The college campus is the perfect environment to get involved and discover the social activist in you. Check out these five organizations that have a strong presence on campuses nationwide.
1. ONE Campus Challenge
Of course we have to start with ONE! The ONE Campus Challenge (OCC) is an intercollegiate competition designed to mobilize students in the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease. Through life-saving actions, creative challenges and educational events, college students, professors, alumni and friends join together and urge political leaders to support smart and effective programs that save lives and improve futures for generations to come. Find out if your school has a ONE Campus chapter, and if not, establishing one couldn’t be easier.
![UniversitiesFightingWorldHunger[1]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8322/8053563377_0ca5cf0bff_o.jpg)
2. Universities Fighting World Hunger
In partnership with the UN World Food Programme, Universities Fighting World Hunger mobilizes universities across the nation to make fighting hunger a core value of higher education institutions. This perfect blend of advocacy and academics is great way to get the discussion of world hunger started on your campus. Registration is quick and easy online, and the resources are provided to get you started on tackling hunger straight from your college or university.
3. Habitat for Humanity International
Founded on the conviction that every man, woman and child should have a decent, safe and affordable place to live, Habitat for Humanity builds homes for low-income families around the world. Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapters are a student-led, student-initiated organization that partners with the local Habitat affiliate to fulfill the four functions of a campus chapter; building, fundraising, advocating, and educating. You can locate your campus chapter or register to charter a new chapter on your campus. This is great for the hands-on activist of the world.
4. Alpha Phi Omega
Active on over 360 colleges and universities nationwide, Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity (APO) has more than 17,000 male and female student members. It prepares campus leaders for service to humanity through local and national service projects. Alumni, or “brothers”, include Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, First Lady Michelle Obama, Martin Luther King Sr., numerous congressmen, governors, business leaders, and social activist across the United States. Find out if your campus has a chapter and how you can pledge.
5. American Red Cross
A Red Cross campus club is a great way to get involved. As a campus club you will engage with key national and international issues. You might help to alleviate the chronic blood shortage in America by running a blood drive, work to fight measles in Africa or respond to local or national disasters. A campus club allows you to address these issues in incredibly creative ways that make sense for your community. Being part of a Red Cross campus club also opens up new career development opportunities, through local or national internships with the Red Cross, training or simply leading projects that will make a long lasting impact on your community.
This list is only an introduction to five phenomenal organizations. There are plenty more that are exceptional and either have campus chapters or work closely with youth and college students. Make sure you do your research and find ones that best matches you and your school’s needs. On behalf of the ONE Campus Team we wish you the best of luck as you work to bring out the social activist in you!
