Ann Arbor Reaching Out
Ann Arbor Reaching Out (also known as AARO) is a student-founded community service organization at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Mission and goals
Ann Arbor Reaching Out is a student-run service organization aimed at community improvement by facilitating efforts to ease the burdens of homeless children and families in Ann Arbor. The group's emphasis on community involvement entails a two part mission: 1) engagement in and sposorship of local non-profit work and 2) fostering student engagement at the University of Michigan by connecting them to local charitable efforts and groups.
Activities and projects
Throughout the school year, AARO conducts several long-term volunteer opportunities as well as several charity events and fundraisers, usually directed toward raising community awareness of homelessness or Providing goods for itinerant families and children.
Activities include:
- enlisting volunteers for family/youth communes such as the Home of New Vision, Peace Neighborhood and the Ronald McDonald Houses.
- conducting biannual food & clothing drives.
- providing volunteers for local soup kitchens
- sponsoring periodic and seasonal charity projects such as benefit concerts, the most notable of which is the annual Reach Out and Rock, which has historically raised funds for the Home of New Vision.