The West Virginia University Center for Community Engagement is proud to announce that WVU students have logged and verified more than 110,000 hours of community service between May 1, 2025, and April 30, 2026 — the highest number of documented service hours ever recorded in a single academic year through the Center for Community Engagement.
This achievement was made possible through the efforts of 3,897 student volunteers, support from University staff, and the University’s online volunteer platform, iServe. Through iServe, 220 different organizations received more than $3 million worth of volunteer service, and the CCE was able to exceed its initial goal of 100,000 service hours.
CCE Volunteer Engagement Coordinator Julia Manley said the 100,000-hour goal was set as a way to measure the CCE’s community impact, as well as identify trends in student engagement and encourage participation across WVU. This emphasis on student involvement has resulted in more than 830,000 total volunteer hours since WVU launched iServe in 2016.
“It is incredible to see all the effort from students and the Center for Community Engagement pay off. This work can be so impactful, and to have such a big number tie it all together is the reason we are continuously able to show up for the people in our communities,” Manley said. “Simply put, the students are doing the work to make a meaningful difference, and the numbers speak for themselves.”
One of those students was Luke Bowers from Confluence, Pennsylvania. Bowers is a freshman in WVU’s accelerated bachelor’s to master’s program in sport management who is already on track to graduate in spring 2027. During the 2025-26 academic year, he volunteered 497 service hours across several organizations, including the Somerset County Mobile Food Bank, Red Cross Service Club, Rosenbaum Family House, and Mountaineers for Opioid Recovery.
Bowers was also able to tap into his passion for sports as the volunteer equipment manager for the WVU D1 club hockey team, which won the 2026 College Hockey Mid-America Championship in February.
“Since it’s a club team with limited resources, I really enjoyed being able to contribute my services and experiences as an equipment manager to their organization while providing an additional resource to help support their success, something that is typically not feasible for club hockey programs,” Bowers said.
Besides gaining valuable experience working in a team environment, Bowers said his opportunities to volunteer helped him grow as a person and better appreciate what it means to make a difference in his community at home and in West Virginia.
“As someone aspiring to be a professional sports official, these service opportunities have helped me grow in leadership, teamwork, organization and interpersonal skills,” Bowers said. “Volunteering is an area I greatly value and have incorporated into my life from a young age. During my college search, it was clear that WVU, as a land-grant institution, prioritizes community engagement, service and giving back.”
CCE Director of Community-Based Learning Whitney Glotfelty said enabling mutually beneficial partnerships between student volunteers and organizations is at the core of CCE’s mission.
“Community engagement helps students connect their skills and passions to real needs in the community,” Glotfelty said. “Through these experiences, students build professional skills, expand their networks, and gain a deeper understanding of the communities around them, all while making a meaningful impact.”
The WVU CCE supports effective partnerships with communities that enhance discovery through community-engaged teaching, scholarship and action. The CCE focuses on supporting faculty, staff and students in working with external partners on meeting reciprocal and mutually beneficial needs and advancing WVU’s land grant mission.
If you want to learn more about the WVU Center for Community Engagement, visit communityengagement.wvu.edu or follow @WVUCCE on Facebook and Instagram.
-WVU-
sg/05/26/26
CONTACT: Sam Gorski
Content Strategist
WVU Division for Land-Grant Engagement