Tag Archives: volunteer

Volunteering with UNICEF

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by Haley Henderson ’27

In the Dickinson in Bremen program, there is a strong emphasis on community engagement, with a volunteering requirement to encourage students to interact with Bremen in a positive way. Keeping with Dickinson’s global impact, I hoped to find an opportunity that would help me interact with locals.

For this, I decided to join the Unicef Bremen chapter. Unicef volunteers in a multitude of ways, from cleanups, fundraisers, sustainability education, and many other opportunities. Most recently, I had volunteered with Unicef for an Earth Day trash clean-up. Dividing into different groups, we spread out across Bremen to pick up any trash that we saw.

My group focused on the University and the tram lines, where we geared up for the afternoon. There were many people that I was able to meet as well as some familiar faces from past events. I loved getting to talk with everyone and make Bremen a little bit cleaner in the process.


Overall, I really recommend volunteering with Unicef as they are very welcoming and have a wide arrange of events to participate in. I hope to continue volunteering in Bremen.

Ehrenamtliche Arbeit beim Bremer Suppenengel

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by Makayla McCloskey ’26

To complete my volunteer hours, I spent many Monday mornings in the Bremen Suppenengel with Nina. When you arrive, you are either asked to work in the kitchen making soup or to sit around a table and make Brötchen (sandwiches) to give out in the afternoon. My first day I worked in the kitchen, but found I preferred making the Brötchen instead.

Makayla preparing sandwiches for the Bremer Suppenengel

Working at the Suppenengel was a really fulfilling experience; the work wasn’t overwhelming, and it was a useful way to get more practice hearing everyday German, instead of the academic German I was getting used to. The people in charge were incredibly friendly, one of my favorite memories was everyone discussing the pronunciation of my name and playing “Michaela” by Bata Illic for me because I had never heard it. Everyone there made sure we felt comfortable and hydrated!

Overall, I found the Bremen Suppenengel to be a very achievable and meaningful way to give back to Bremen, even with a busy school semester.

Volunteering with the Bremer Suppenengel

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by Nina Grafton ’26

When studying abroad with the Dickinson in Bremen program, students are required to earn 15 to 18 hours of community service. While it can be challenging to balance this in addition to the other requirements of the program, it is important to serve the community you are living in for an extended period of time.

Starting in May, I volunteered weekly with the Bremer Suppenengel. The non-profit is a soup kitchen on wheels: after preparing the food, volunteers bike or drive to various distribution points around the city. The Suppenengel use donations from big grocery retailers and bakeries to make soup and sandwiches to distribute for free. Individuals in need can also take fresh fruit, vegetables, and other food items that aren’t used in the soup.

Nina, preparing sandwiches during her volunteer work with the Bremer Suppenengel

As a volunteer, my job was to make sandwiches using bread donated from local bakeries. While buttering bread and assembling cheese sandwiches isn’t the most exciting task, I was able to practice my German speaking and listening skills with the other kind volunteers. One of my favorite aspects of volunteering was seeing their familiar faces every Monday.

Volunteering with the Klimawerkstatt (Climate Workshop)

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by Naomi Mathewson ’26

To complete my volunteer hours, I decided to work with the Klimawerkstatt in Neustadt, allowing me to effect change right in my neighborhood. I learned about the Klimawerkstatt through my class “Kultur- und klimapolitische Stadtteilarbeit” (roughly: “cultural and climate-political city cooperation”). In this class, we came up with creative artistic projects to benefit the local area, as well as the Lucie Garten- the garden across the street that has been built by the community to create more green space in the city. For my volunteer hours, I had the opportunity to do different kinds of volunteer activities. For example, I helped with a zine-making workshop and made my own zine. However, the majority of my hours were spent on Thursday evenings gardening in the Lucie Garden. A couple of my friends usually accompanied me, and it was a great bonding experience.

I would recommend visiting the events of the Klimawerkstatt and the Lucie Garten even if you aren’t volunteering! I loved going to the flea markets and other workshops!

Naomi gardening in the Lucie Garden