It’s early morning at the Hotel for Homeless Dogs in Cumberland, Rhode Island, and the Bryant University Service Squad has a day of important work ahead of it. But right now, for the moment, Paige Zuber ’25MBA, Bryant’s assistant director of social media marketing, is taking a moment to be smitten.

She’s cuddling a pair of 10-month-old pit bull mixes, two of the guests at the nonprofit haven for four-legged friends. “They’re just so adorable,” she says of the pups, who will be adopted later in the day. They also remind her of her own rescue dog, Gnocchi. “Being here today is bringing back a lot of fond memories,” Zuber admits.

Her volunteerism today is motivated by the opportunity to help others find their own furry pals, she says. “I was looking for a way to give back like this, and Bryant’s Service Squad gave me one.”

Nearby, Kristen Kube, alumni communications and program coordinator, has thrown herself into deep cleaning the kennels, a kind of doggy turndown service, assisted by Pam Duguay, office coordinator for the Bryant’s Office of Undergraduate advising, who adopted her own dog from this very shelter.

It’s not the most glamorous work, Kube admits, (there’ll be plenty of time to walk and play with the canines later) but it’s for a good cause. “Somebody once said that the world isn't changed by what you say, it's changed by what you do,” she recalls. “That’s what I always tell my kids.”

And while helping others is its own satisfaction, Kube notes, it doesn’t hurt that Lexi and Livvy, the two pitbulls in the suite next door, are vying to give the most affection to the visitors.

Outside the shelter, Todd Alessandri, Bryant’s dean of the College of Business, is dressed in a t-shirt and baseball cap — far removed from his usual suit and tie — and pushing a wheelbarrow of mulch as part of a landscaping effort. Alessandri is new to the university, having started at the school this summer, and he’s eager to help out.

It’s an impressive introduction to so many of his coworkers out today — and what they value. “I think it says something that so many people are really wanting to make an impact, no matter how big or small,” he says.  

“We don't want to just be a university that is sitting within a community,” states Alessandri. “We want to be part of that community.”

The Hotel’s manager, Savannah Joseph, notes that that the shelter sees regular visits from the university’s sports teams and the student-run Bryant Volunteer Club. It's a win-win for everyone," she says. "The volunteers absolutely love it, the people at the Hotel love it, and the dogs absolutely love it too."

Now in its second year, the Bryant University Service Squad is fast becoming a beloved university tradition, says Associate Director of Human Resources and Title IX Coordinator Meaghan Trayner, who helped to organize the event. The annual event has its roots in a Bryant University employee survey that suggested that the members of the Bryant community were looking for ways to give back to the community, and to get to know it — and each other — better.

“I think coming together like this, and finding ways to help others, is part of our identity at Bryant,” Trayner reflects. “We have such a great community here at Bryant, and we’re so proud to be part of another great community in Smithfield. The Service Squad event seemed like a natural fit.”

“Being able to work with them like this brings out the best in all of us. And the best part is just seeing the smiles and the looks in their eyes.”

This year, the Service Squad spread its reach even further, across more locations — from greeting patrons at the Greenville Public Library to planting flowers at Smithfield High School to beautifying roadways with Smithfield Refuse and Recycle — and with more volunteers. “We were looking for things that help youth, animals, the environment, to do as much as we can,” Trayner notes. “We wanted to make as big a difference as possible.”

At Revive the Roots, a nonprofit organization based out of Smithfield that works to create ecologically regenerative and dynamic social spaces, Associate Director for Institutional and Advancement Meag Delaney ’11, ’18MBA, is on a mission.

Delaney is working alongside Director of Library Services Laura Kohl in the nonprofit’s edible forest garden. A veritable Garden of Eden, the plot is filled with everything from catnip to raspberries to spearmint to peaches to chestnuts. But Eden has become overgrown, and Delaney and Kohl are working to cut back walking paths through the vegetation. As they chop away with their clippers, they allow the branches to fall back to earth, replenishing the soil.

This is Delaney’s second year volunteering at Revive the Roots, and she enjoyed the first visit so much she reserved a space in her own neighborhood community garden. As they look behind them, she and Kohl are impressed with the work they’ve managed to do in just a short amount of time — and then they resolve to do even more.

Helping out at Revive the Roots is a chance to connect with a different type of work, Kohl notes. “It’s been hard work,” she acknowledges. “But it’s been fun too.”

That’s been the energy of the day, notes Revive the Roots Volunteer Coordinator Amanda Anglemyer. “Everybody's been really excited to do everything I've thrown at them today,” she says happily.

Just beyond the garden gates, IT Systems Analyst Ray Lombardi weeds a garden patch with Director of the Office of Accessibility Services Marie Saddlemire, Ph.D., priming the way for potatoes and squash for the Hope’s Harvest, another nonprofit that gleans fresh food for those in need. When he’s not ensuring Bryant’s faculty, staff, and students have the technological assistance they need to succeed, Lombardi has his own garden back home and jumped at the chance to volunteer at Revive the Roots.

“It’s about taking what you’re good at and figuring out how to use it to give back,” he muses.

About five minutes away, at the YMCA in Smithfield, summer camp is in full swing and more than 70 kids — ranging in age from just entering kindergarten to fifth graders — are enjoying their field day. Stretched out across a giant field, they’re engaged in a mini-Olympics of games and activities, from soccer to tug of war to sack races to fun with a giant parachute. Their happy shouts carry on the hot August air.

And at nearly every station, the Service Squad is there, doing their best to ensure the kids have the best day of their entire summer.

Suite coordinators Brenda Tougas and Patricia Vaughan are managing the limbo station — the day’s most fun station, Tougas insists with a laugh. It can be tiring keeping up with the kids and their limitless energy, she says, but every moment is worth it. “Being able to work with them like this brings out the best in all of us,” she suggests. “And the best part is just seeing the smiles and the looks in their eyes.”

There are other little bonuses too, she admits. “One of the kids saw our shirts and said “Oh, you guys are from Bryant!’” she remembers. There’s pride in that. Smithfield YMCA Program Director Torrie Follet and Camp Director Abby Kemeski appreciate the assistance, too. “Working together makes all of our lives richer,” Follet notes. “By coming together as a community, working toward the same goal and reinforcing each other, we can, with a little effort, make a big difference in somebody else's life.”

A YMCA tie-dyeing station puts that thesis to work with an impressive Service Squad assembly line. It starts off with Development Coordinator Gabrielle Bruno and Senior Assistant Director of Alumni Engagement Jessica Dang helping the eager kids prepare the shirts. Then, further down the line, Eric Meier, Bryant’s director of creative services, and others assist them with applying paint to the sartorial canvas, deciding on colors and patterns with the children in an artistic meeting of the minds. At the end of the process, Tim Paige, vice president for human resources, helps them bag up their new works of wearable art and sends them off with a smile.

Melanie Ok, intercultural career coach for Bryant’s Amica Center for Career Education, is a recent addition to the Bryant staff. Beyond the joy of working with the kids and helping them discover their creativity — Ok also helped apply the paint and has multicolored splotches on her arms to prove it — the Service Squad event provided her with a way to get to know her new coworkers.

“I learned today that Bryant is a really welcoming community and that they’re really good at coming together to help others and get the job done,” she muses.