Eleven local nonprofit organizations received volunteer help from more than 70 University law students during Public Service Day on Saturday.
The event was organized by Oregon Law’s Public Interest Public Service Program. Currently in its first year, PIPS has been responsible for hosting service-based workshops and prominent speakers. According to its Web site, PIPS is a faculty-approved group that seeks to “develop understanding of the value of public-interest and service work nationally and globally; promote public interest and service activities and knowledge through lectures and discussions,” among other goals.
Lauren Sommers, first-year law student and service program secretary, said it is important for law students to realize they can help the community in ways that do not necessarily deal with legal issues.
“Since we are only in our first year, we are deciding what we want to be like to distinguish ourselves,” Sommers said. “Ultimately, we want to act as a clearinghouse where all of the students can go through us for their community service needs.”
For Public Service Day, several students volunteered to chop discarded fruits and vegetables to make compost for the Northwest Youth Corps’ organic garden. The food grown in the garden is used to feed NWYC members who camp while performing outdoor projects across the Northwest. Another group of law students volunteered at Cascades Raptor Center, a nature center and wildlife hospital located at Spencer Butte.
“Having the law students here is a huge help,” said Laurin Coggins, assistant director of the Cascades Raptor Center. “We have a volunteer staff organization, so we get a lot done when we have extra help.”
Volunteers spent Saturday morning lining a new cage with predator wire and soil cloth, digging trenches and covering the floor of the cage with gravel.
Third-year law student and PIPS student chair Kristen Parcher worked at the Cascades Raptor Center.
“It is important for us to connect organizations with law students interested in public law,” Parcher said. “As students, we are not ready to provide legal work, so it is important that we provide some sort of service to the community. People who are sitting at home right now on a day like this are missing out.”
Law and Entrepreneurship Student Association members spent their entire day painting at the Boys and Girls Club of Emerald Valley at 1545 W. 22nd Ave. Students painted the walls “Boys and Girls Club blue” on the inside of its headquarters. Teen Center Volunteer Coordinator Toby Winn said he was pleased with the turnout.
“We were only planning on getting four volunteers, but a lot more came and we were able to get more done than I thought we could,” Winn said. “We usually only have volunteers like this only a few times a year.”
The law school also offers a Public Interest and Public Service Law Certificate upon graduation. To earn the certificate, law students must take five public interest classes from three different blocks and complete 100 hours of pro bono work.
For the third year in a row, the School of Law has won the Oregon State Bar Pro Bono Challenge for being the law school that reported the most law student pro bono hours in the state. Since the inception of PIPS, the number of pro bono hours by University law students has increased from 4,680 to 11,214.
“Doing pro bono work is a really rewarding experience … but I really would like to get paid someday,” second-year law student Danny Reynolds said.