May 1, 2018 – A group of students from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard School of Dental Medicine hosted a joint volunteer service day on April 20, 2018 called Longwood Serves.
The students went door-to-door in Cambridge to raise awareness about free disaster prevention and fire safety resources from the American Red Cross; cleaned up the community gym and helped staff organize files at Roxbury Tenants of Harvard (RTH); and helped distribute surplus fresh vegetables and fruits from local farmers and stores to families in Dorchester with Fair Foods, a Boston nonprofit.
The students’ efforts were supported by the Harvard Chan Student Association and Ra’Shaun Nalls, director of community engagement in Harvard Chan’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
Jessica Huang, DrPH ’19, an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Fellow at Harvard Chan, said that students have participated in other community-oriented events over the past school year, including helping with setup and cleanup at RTH’s Lunar New Year celebration in early March and taking a walking tour of Chinatown last fall that focused on social determinants of health in the Boston neighborhood, such as housing and green space.
photos courtesy Jessica Huang