Lending a hand in the community by Greg St. Martin January 19, 2012 Share Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Photo by Mary Knox Merrill. Inspiring children to explore creative writing. Volunteering at homeless shelters. Expanding health education in local high schools. These are only a few of the opportunities that students interested in lending a hand in their community can discover at today’s Spring Volunteer Fair, which will include representatives from more than 60 campus organizations and nonprofits in the Greater Boston Area. The fair — which is held at the start of each fall and spring semester — will be hosted by Northeastern’s Center of Community Service in the Curry Student Center Indoor Quad from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. “Volunteering offers Northeastern students an opportunity to really become a member of the Boston community,” said Sara de Ritter, associate director of service and community partnerships in the Center of Community Service. “It allows students to understand the challenges and the assets of living in an urban environment while taking direct action.” The Center of Community Service supports Northeastern’s long tradition of service to the community and commitment to civic engagement. In the 2010–2011 academic year, 3,350 Northeastern students completed more than 171,000 hours of service. The center offers a range of other programs through which students can address critical needs in communities in Boston and around the world. These include Alternative Spring Break and nuSERVES, in which incoming first-year students participate in neighborhood service projects. The Husky Volunteer Team is one of the center’s newest and most-popular initiatives, enabling students to partner with a community organization for at least one semester.