Fear not. TD-33348 of the Makaze Squad, Florida Garrison at your service to share my story in the hopes that you might become a volunteer in your community — because when we give back, everyone wins.

I joined the 501st Legion of professional Star Wars costumers in June 2020. The 501st is the largest Star Wars costume group in the world, with members in nearly every country. We have thousands of members in Florida alone.

The group’s webpage notes, “While the 501st was initially founded to unite costumers with a penchant for Star Wars villainy, one of our real-world missions is to bring good to our communities through volunteer charity work. The 501st is always looking for opportunities to brighten the lives of the less fortunate and to bring awareness to positive causes on both a local and global scale.�

Why did I join this particular group? Because Star Wars is my passion.

I’ve been a fan of the series ever since I sat on the steps of a standing-room-only movie theater to watch A New Hope in 1977. I have seen every film, studied the reviews, analyzed the characters and read dozens of books and blogs on the trilogies. I even at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½.

To become a member of the 501st, you must first build a costume and have it approved by your local garrison. In my case I spent nearly six months ordering plastic armor from the UK and sourcing parts from all over the states to complete my sandtrooper build. A buddy remarked, “This is the largest model kit I’ve ever put together.� That’s an apt description.

Once your costume is complete, you submit photos to the garrison for approval. Once approved, you can “troop� with your local squad, participating in all kinds of events. The cool thing about being a trooper is that it combines my love of Star Wars with the importance of giving back to my community.

Our group has participated in troops at schools, science fiction conventions, weddings, parties, animal rescues, charitable organizations, and most importantly at children’s hospitals, where we are able to bring fun and joy into the lives of families facing some of life’s most difficult challenges.

My first troop was at a comic book shop for a toy collectors convention. The owner of the shop made a sizable donation to help support our local Orlando charities. I had a great time meeting parents and children, and it was heartwarming to see their reactions to some of their favorite characters from the movies.

During the past year I’ve completed nearly 30 troops, and I’ve come away from every event with a deeper sense of gratitude. I’ve learned that volunteering is as beneficial to the volunteer as it is to those in need.

The Mayo Clinic has done extensive research on this subject and shares the benefits of volunteering, from decreasing the risk of depression to developing new and meaningful relationships to even enabling people to live longer.

It’s a win-win, or as Obi-wan Kenobi might say, if you volunteer, you’ll take “your first steps into a larger world.� I never realized that putting on a “bucket� (stormtrooper helmet) would allow me to experience so many emotions and so many mental and physical benefits.

I also didn’t realize how rewarding it would be to put smiles on people’s faces and show my support for organizations like the Make A Wish Foundation and Give Kids the World Village in Kissimmee that provide so much aid to children and their families.

Students who want to learn more about volunteering at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ can visit the .

The world has never needed us volunteers more than it does now. I urge you to get out there, donate just a few hours of your time to a worthy cause, and then reflect on that experience.

Being empathetic to the plight of others is a great step toward a kinder and more peaceful world—and a more healthy you! These are the volunteer experiences you’re looking for.

Do or do not. There is no try.

Students who want to learn more about volunteering at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ can visit the Office of Student Involvement’s VÂ鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ webpage:

VÂ鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Facebook page: facebook.com/volunteerucf/

May the volunteering be with you!

Peter Telep ’95 ’98MA is a senior instructor in Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s Department of English. He can be reached at Peter.Telep@ucf.edu.

The Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Forum is a weekly series of opinion columns from faculty, staff and students who serve on a panel for a year. A new column is posted each Wednesday on Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Today and then broadcast on WÂ鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½-FM (89.9) between 7:50 and 8 a.m. Sunday. Columns are archived in the campus library’s  collection and as WÂ鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ podcasts. Opinions expressed are those of the columnists, and are not necessarily shared by the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½.

The program sends teams of students around the country and internationally to engage in community service and learn about a variety of social issues. Through these service-learning trips, students will be exposed to new cultural experiences while building leadership and teamwork skills as they network with fellow students.

An informational showcase for the program will be held 6:30-8 p.m. Jan. 24 in the Student Union’s Pegasus Ballroom.

Students will have the opportunity to register for one of five alternative break trips at Lottery Knight on Jan. 30. Students who attend this 6-9 p.m. event in the Student Union’s Cape Florida Ballroom can enter their name in a lottery to determine the order in which they can sign up for the experience of their choice. To RSVP for Jan. 30’s Lottery Knight, .

To sign up for the Alternative Break Program, you must be a Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ student enrolled in at least six credit hours in both Fall 2018 and Spring 2019 semesters. You must have a minimum GPA of 2.5 for undergraduates, or 3.0 for graduates. You also must be free of financial or disciplinary holds on university records, and you may not be on probation for academic or disciplinary reasons.

Domestic trips cost $250 and international trips requiring flight travel cost $550. Prices cover food, lodging and travel for the week.

More information about the program and answers to frequently asked questions can be found at .

Here is a look at this year’s spring break experiences, which will be March 10-16:

Environmental Awareness

West Jefferson, North Carolina
Students will work alongside community partner Woodland Harvest Mountain Farm. Examples of activities include construction of cabins and greenhouses, water and solar-energy installations, animal care and gardening.

International Children’s Outreach

Guyana
Students will work to uphold International Children’s Outreach’s ideals of providing food, clothing, and medical and educational supplies to underprivileged children.

Youth Education Outreach

New Orleans, Louisiana
Students will work with community partner Apex Youth Center, which serves children, teens and young adults with programs involving academic tutoring, mentoring, recreation, community service of their own and training to become leaders and active citizens.

Refugee Relations

Clarkson, Georgia
Students will work with local organizations offering various service-learning opportunities. In addition to learning from the stories and experiences shared by the refugee community, examples of activities include school programming, housing prep and assisting with local business construction.

Community Support

Sarapiqui, Costa Rica
Details of the trip are being finalized.

The main goals are to raise awareness of hunger and homelessness on our campus and in our community, educate individuals on resources available assist those in need, and encourage people to get involved to help overcome these social issues. Some events include:

The National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week is in collaboration with Volunteer Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ (VÂ鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½), Graduate Student Association (GSA), Knights Helping Knights Pantry and various campus partners.

The events are worth up to 1,000 LINK Loot points and qualify as LEAD Impact events. More details at: or the . For additional information contact: Angela Newland, Student Care Services, angela.newland@ucf.edu.

Knights Go Green will feature 40 to 60 student volunteers stationed near recycling and trash bins on Memory Mall and at Bright House Networks Stadium, to help inform people what can be recycled. Student volunteers also will pick up recyclable items that are left behind at Memory Mall and other tailgating areas.

Zachary Good, Volunteer Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ environmental director and a sophomore political science student, developed the plans for Knights Go Green after learning of the success that other universities, such as the University of Colorado and Arizona State University, have experienced with their recycling programs.

“Education, in my opinion, is the biggest component for bridging the gap between apathy and inconvenience that hold a lot of individuals back from recycling,� Good said. “Knights Go Green provides volunteer opportunities to students while simultaneously educating tailgaters and attendees of the game on how to appropriately dispose of their waste.�

The spring game will be a pilot for Knights Go Green, which is being led by Volunteer Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ in partnership with the Student Government Association and several Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ departments. The program is expected to continue into the 2017 football season and also could eventually expand to basketball games and other events on campus.

Volunteers can be students, staff or faculty members. To sign up, go to signupgenius.com/go/409044bafab2ba2ff2-knights.

Tailgating Times for Spring Game

As in prior seasons, tailgating for the spring game will be allowed only in the E lots around Bright House Networks Stadium and at Memory Mall.

The E lots will open to all fans at 9 a.m. Memory Mall will open at 12:30 p.m. for students and alumni who have made reservations in advance. The open container waiver for both the stadium lots and Memory Mall will begin at 12:30 p.m.

Tailgating in all lots and the open container waiver will conclude at 6 p.m., 30 minutes prior to the 6:30 p.m. kickoff.

Reservations will become available for students and alumni at 6 p.m. Sunday, April 16. To sign up, go to ucfsga.com/knightsonthemall.

Knights fans also on April 22 can join in on the second annual Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½astival, which will include pre-game events like food truck wars and a concert from country music singer Lauren Alaina. Festivities begin at 11 a.m. For more information, see the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Knights website.

New Tailgating Policies for Regular Season

For Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s seven regular season home games, tailgating on Memory Mall and in most other areas of campus will now start six hours prior to kickoff – but no earlier than 8 a.m. To encourage Knights fans to arrive at the stadium before games begin, tailgating will conclude 30 minutes prior to kickoff.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and the Student Government Association wanted to bring the tailgating times more in line with the policies of the National Football League and American Athletic Conference teams.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s new policy permits 5½ hours of tailgating for most games. The NFL permits 5 hours, and American schools generally allow between 4 and 6 hours of tailgating.

For the regular season, the E lots near the stadium, which are primarily reserved for Golden Knights Club donors, will continue to open at 8 a.m. on all game days.

More than 50 students will travel on one of three trips to Guatemala, Dominican Republic or Costa Rica as part of that connects students with volunteer opportunities across the U.S. and the world.

The program offered its first international volunteer trip in 2013 to San Miguel de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, and since, there’s been a high demand for more, said David Oglethorpe, assistant director of the Office of Student Involvement.

“Going abroad gives students such a change of perspective,� said Danielle Soto, student coordinator of the Costa Rica trip. “It shows us the privileges we have here, how deep some social issues can run and how these issues vary in different parts of the world.�

One of the forefront animal-rights issues in the United States, for example, is a push to adopt rescue animals instead of buying from pet stores or a breeder, Soto said. However, in Costa Rica, the focus is on curtailing illegal trade of exotic animals and habitat deforestation, she said.

Students volunteering in San Miguel, Costa Rica will work in an animal-rescue center dedicated to the rehabilitation of wildlife. In Antigua, Guatemala, students will help teach English, build tilapia ponds so the community can have a direct food source, and will help build stoves that use less wood to reduce the burden on the Guatemalan forests. In Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, students will work with at-risk children and women to help teach them new art skills and how to sell their art.

About another 60 students will travel across the eastern United States to volunteer with organizations that address homelessness, hunger, human trafficking, refugee resettlement, the environment and more. These trips span from Roanoke, Va., to Nashville, Tenn., to Key West, Fla.

The Alternative Break Program has been offered at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ for about 20 years, said Haley Winston, assistant director of the Office of Student Involvement. It’s run by Volunteer Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and is funded by the Student Government Association, which sponsors a portion of the trips. Students pay $250 for domestic spring break trips and $550 for international trips.

Alternative Break Program also connects students with volunteer trips during winter break and the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.

“It’s a great opportunity for students to experience places outside of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and Orlando,â€� Oglethorpe said.

As a single mother living in Guatemala with daughters 7 and 3 years old, Alison Batres earned just enough money working in a family-owned bakery to pay rent and feed her children.

Fed up and in search of a better life, she moved with her daughters to Miami, where her mother lived and worked as a housekeeper. Becoming a housekeeper herself, she saved enough money to get a place of her own five years later. Although still a modest lifestyle – a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in Miami’s predominantly Cuban neighborhood called Little Havana – the move positioned her daughters to attend a school that ultimately led to Kimberly Batres pursuing something no one else in her family had: a college degree.

Batres, now a junior at the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, is studying both anthropology and Latin American studies to work toward a career in archaeology. She plans to root her future research in Guatemala to discover its unmasked history and to further connect with her heritage.

“One of the things I realized, through my minor in history, is a lot of research and resources accumulated for anthropology either go to Europe or the Middle East,� Batres said. “There isn’t much to document Latin America, and what there is, it’s information from an outsider. I want to bring the perspective of someone from that country.�

Batres wants to help dig up undiscovered Mayan temples and precolonial sites and identify the history behind them.

“With archaeology, we’re out there excavating, documenting everything we find and uncovering history. What people often don’t consider with archaeology is we include the local community people in our work. We also work to preserve cultural identity,â€� said Amanda Groff, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ archaeology associate lecturer. “When we involve locals, it gives them a sense of ownership in what we uncover, which can lead to a greater desire to preserve it.â€�

Batres’ Guatemalan heritage can assist in her archaeology efforts, Groff said. That’s because the locals may be more willing to interact and participate because Batres has an established connection with their community and culture.

Batres’ educational success, which spans from being part of LEAD Scholars, Volunteer Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and the President’s Leadership Council, began to blossom in 6th grade when an inspiring teacher helped her discover her love of history and opened her eyes to the possibility of attending college. A higher education was encouraged by Batres mother and grandmother but not often discussed, as neither of them had attended college.

Taking every advanced placement course she could in high school, often staying until 9 p.m. to study, plus joining clubs, sports teams and working part-time at Publix to pay for her college applications ultimately led to Batres’ acceptance at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½. Now, a drive to one day help support her mom to thank her for her sacrifices pushes Batres to keep going.

“My mom worked from nothing to having her own apartment and to being comfortable enough to not be starving anymore,� Batres said. “Seeing her hard work has motivated me to work hard, too, and return the favor to her one day.�

Batres also wants to encourage others to pursue their dreams, as she’s seen firsthand how hard work pays off. As part of Volunteer Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, Batres now is coordinating a trip to Charlotte, N.C., to help homeless families get back on their feet through an organization called Charlotte Family Housing. The volunteers also will work with Wings for Kids, an organization that helps low-income elementary and middle school students learn emotional and social intelligence through after-school programs.

Batres and nine other students will spend their spring break, March 12-18, volunteering with the organizations.

“We can give these kids the perspective of what they can accomplish if they continue in school,� Batres said. “I was sort of in their situation, too.�

Through the years, volunteers have provided about $600,000 in services to the community on the annual day to give back, said Iqra Bhatti, the student coordinator for this year’s event at about two dozen venues around Central Florida.

This year about 1,300 to 1,500 students, alumni, faculty and staff members are expected to sign up to serve, she said, adding to the already 22,000 hours of work donated to help local individuals and agencies the past nine years.

“We like to say at Volunteer Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ that we have an impact on the community just by taking the day to provide for others what we have for ourselves,â€� said Bhatti, an Orlando senior majoring in health science.

Projects are divided into different categories: health, environment, education and literacy, hunger and homelessness, youth and mentoring, and animal awareness. Volunteers should meet at CFE Arena on campus by 7:30 a.m. so they can be transported to the various work sites such as Clean the World, Mustard Seed of Central Florida, Center for Independent Living, and Oakland Nature Preserve. The event is scheduled to end at 1 p.m.

Volunteers can do things as varied as planting trees and shrubs, packing shelf-stable meals, cleaning tombstones, making cards for hospitalized children, recycling hygiene products, and numerous other projects.

Something new for volunteers this year will be a “field dayâ€� of games in the CFE Arena for children with autism. Volunteer Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is working with The Autism Society of Greater Orlando to organize the day.

If you’re registering a group of at least 10 to work at the same site, organizers ask that you sign up everyone at the same time.

Knights Give Back is just one part of Volunteer Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s projects. The group has a variety of events and programs throughout the year for students to gain knowledge and experience, and connect with volunteer opportunities of their interest. VÂ鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ works with more than 200 community organizations to expand the agency’s outreach.

“Why do we do this? Four hours of time truly impacts the community,� Bhatti said. “Plus, you learn what you want to see the world become. It’s a lot about helping others and self-discovery.�

That sense of optimism can be felt in Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ students, many of whom are forgoing sandy beaches during spring break this week in favor of participating in one of the 11 service activities of the a initiative, or working with independent groups.

Two years ago, finance and economics senior Casey Field was working with orphanages in Guatemala to help disadvantaged and disabled children. This year she will travel to the Dominican Republic with Project Esperanza, rebuilding more than 62 homes burned down by fire, working with local craftswomen, and leading sex-education classes.

“When presented with the opportunity to go, I immediately said yes,â€� Field said. “Being able to learn from a community of women in the DR, experience a new culture, and serve with so many fellow Knights is the most rewarding way I can imagine spending my spring break.”

Nhu Nguyen, a human resources major and SGA senator, is volunteering her time in Alabama packaging healthy meals for hungry children in the United States and refugees at the Syria-Turkey border as a part of Feeding Children Everywhere.

“I joined FCE for experience but I stayed for another semester because I believe in their mission,â€� Nguyen said. “For each ‘hunger project,’ we get to assemble between 30,000 and 100,000 meals for children, for both local and international food pantries. It is quite an experience seeing the direct impact of what we are doing.â€�

It’s not just undergraduate students joining in the spring break volunteerism.

Graduate volunteers from the DeVos Sport Business Management program are headed to New Orleans as part of the , founded by the program director, Richard Lapchick. Fourteen students will help rebuild homes in the Lower Ninth Ward that were affected by Hurricane Katrina and assist with drywall, painting and flooring.

“Volunteering allows me to leave my personal worries behind and see that there’s a greater need out there, and that I can make a profound difference in people’s lives,� said graduate assistant Sara Sanchez.

Volunteer Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, in collaboration with the Graduate Student Association and various campus partners, is hosting National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, November 16-22.

The event will include a week-long donation drive, interactive educational events, powerful speakers, community resources and service projects.

Donated items will benefit the Knights Helping Knights Pantry and the White Linen Project. For lists of the most needed items and locations, visit Facebook pages: and .

The event is to raise awareness of hunger and homeless on the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ campus and in the Central Florida community, educate individuals on resources available to assist those in need, and encourage people to get involved to help overcome these social issues.

The National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week events are worth up to 1,000 LINK Loot points and qualify as LEAD Impact events. For more information, contact Todd at Todd.Currie@ucf.edu.

After a morning of fun in the arena, volunteers were transported to sites all over Orlando. One of the sites, Project Bithlo, had students partnering with United Global Outreach to enhance Transformation Village in an effort to uplift an under resourced community. Voessica Bonney, lunteers assisted with the vegetable and butterfly garden, painted a mural, and helped with the aquaponics system maintenance.

Rosen College and Hospitality Management campus students served at the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando, where they assisted with shelter upkeep, making mobiles for the cats to play with and associating with the shelter animals.

One of the most popular events was the on-campus “Abilities Field Day� hosted in partnership with the Autism Society of Greater Orlando. The event welcomed children with different abilities to experience all the fun of a field day in a safe, controlled environment where they can play with different sensory activities.

“Volunteering and making an impact on the children and their families was very rewarding, but I found that the educational aspect of the project was the biggest thing for us to take away,â€� said Jessica Bonney, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ junior. The Chi Omega member went on to explain, “The entire VÂ鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ staff did a great job of explaining the barrier between society and those who have Autism. We were challenged to break the social stigma within our own lives as well as within our community.â€�