<img src="/site/files/oldnewsfiles/HBThanksgivingService235px.jpg" width="235" height="200" class="FloatRight" alt="HBThanksgivingService235px">Law students from the Harrisburg campus will be embarking on a new service project this holiday season that provides a meaningful opportunity to give back to the community.<br><br>Signups are now underway for students who will participate in a Thanksgiving Day of service at the Bethesda Mission in Harrisburg. The effort is a joint public service project of the Public Interest Law Society, the Black Law Students Association and the Latin American Law Students Association.<br><br>“This experience – the interpersonal skills and giving back – that’s what we are founded on,” said Bri Gaumer, president of the Public Interest Law Society, which formed just last year.<br><br>The organizations will volunteer at the mission from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving afternoon. Gaumer said they will be serving plates of food but also able to sit with residents and engage and connect with them. The students will also set up a table with access-to-justice information and resources for low-cost community legal services.<br><br>Bethesda Mission has a network of ministries. It operates Harrisburg’s primary homeless shelter for men, a women and children’s shelter, an inner-city youth center, a mobile mission that delivers blankets, warm clothing and food to people on the streets at night, medical and dental clinics for Harrisburg’s neediest families, help with transitional housing and outreach to combat hunger and poverty in rural areas. The shelters provide lodging, nutritious meals, hot showers, laundry facilities and clothing to those in need.<br><br>“This is an organization that provides an outstanding array of services,” Gaumer said. “It is our privilege to be a part of it. As Widener Law students, we hear a lot about giving back to the community and we couldn’t let Thanksgiving, of all days, pass without an opportunity to contribute in some way.”<br><br>Students who want to take part in the service project should visit the Harrisburg Public Interest Law Society TWEN page to sign up before the Friday, Nov. 14 deadline. The mission will do a training session with the volunteers before Thanksgiving.<br><br><a href="/Academics/Faculty/ProfilesHbg/WilliamsStarla.aspx">Starla Williams</a>, the director of multicultural affairs, pro bono services and externships on the Harrisburg campus, said the volunteer service is an approved pro bono activity on the official law school public service record for recognition of pro bono distinction at commencement.