2009 marks the 10th year of IPVS and students and alumni alike have been participating in a variety of activities in honor of this momentous occasion!

Between Alumni Weekend, the new Philanthropy Award, the Serbia Alumni Chapter and more, the IPVS and TFAS community have been quite busy giving back.

During the celebration of Alumni Weekend in Washington D.C. from June 26-27, IPVS alumni hosted a roundtable for current students. The alumni, along with Board of Visitor members, served as discussion leaders who spoke about their own experience working in the nonprofit sector. The networking lunch gave students the chance to ask the alumni various questions about their careers. Students also learned about the life and vision of TFAS co-founder David Jones, in whose memory IPVS was established.

The IPVS festivities continued on to Saturday morning, when alumni and students from various institutes participated in a volunteer event at Ross Elementary School. Volunteers cleaned up the outside playground of the school, which is located next door to the new TFAS building, the Center for Teaching Freedom.

Following the service project, the IPVS class held their annual raffle at the student/alumni BBQ in order to raise money for a student grant making project, Fostering Leadership And Meaningful Education (FLAME).

In addition to the Alumni Weekend activities, IPVS has also created a new alumni award: the award for Philanthropy and Voluntary Service. This award recognizes an outstanding TFAS alumnus who is currently giving back to their community.

In the spirit of volunteerism and giving back to those in need, the Serbia Alumni Chapter decided to raise money for a cause that they believed in: helping four Serbian students attend AIPES for the summer of 2009.

The group of alumni was able to collect money to fund the travel of four Serbian students to go to Prague to attend AIPES this summer. These students otherwise may not have been able to participate in the program in Prague without the help of the alumni.

“We decided to do this because this year, the students did not get any help from the U.S. Embassy and other resources because of the current financial crisis,” said chapter president Andrijana Vojnovic (IIPES 06).

All alumni and chapters are encouraged to participate in a service project before 2009 is over! If you are interested in doing or would like help with event ideas, contact alumni@TFAS.org.