Smith Staff Volunteer at A Wider Circle

Claudia Donnelly, a program manager in the undergraduate program at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, writes about volunteering at A Wider Circle in nearby Silver Spring, Md.

On May 24, 2017, just a couple of days after congratulating hundreds of seniors at the Robert H. Smith School of Business commencement ceremony, advisors and staff from the Office of Undergraduate Program turned their attention to helping others in the nearby community and spent several hours at a non-profit organization called A Wider Circle in Silver Spring, Md.

l-r: Brian Horick, Claudia Donnelly, Amy Merritt, Jeanette Snider, Ebony Fullwood, Jason DeSanto Jones, Evan Riddle and Betsy, the helpful volunteer.

The group focused their volunteer efforts in the site’s professional clothing center where they sorted, tagged and organized donations of men’s and women’s clothing and accessories that will be given to those who need professional attire. Thus far, A Wider Circle has clothed over 2,000 individuals and provided them with job searching and advancement skills, resume writing and career path identification – all areas in which the UG Program volunteers are well versed. The group received instructions from “Betsy,” a volunteer who has spent every Wednesday at the facility and welcomed the Smith representatives saying the organization “couldn’t be successful without its volunteers.”

Several Smith student groups partnered with A Wider Circle during last year’s holiday season to collect professional clothing, resulting in a several car-loads of donations.

For more information about A Wider Circle, visit: awidercircle.org.