Alfred assistant professor Douglas Pierson knew he had to return to Haiti to help after January’s devastating earthquake.

Pierson, who lived in Haiti for a time as a veterinary field worker, led a group of student volunteers to Haiti in May to help bring aid to the ravaged country.

Oneonta associate professor Karen Joest went to Peru in June to help homeless kids, known as “street children.” There, she and 16 Oneonta students dug a mile-long trench to bring stream water to an orphanage.

Canton admissions advisor Sabel Bong spent a hot August Saturday behind a grill in Schenectady, cooking up spicy Cambodian curry chicken at a fundraiser for C.O.C.O.A. House, a nonprofit after-school tutoring and mentoring program for city kids.

Environmental Science and Forestry union member William Burry is part of a church ministry at a Syracuse-area prison. Buffalo Center member Susan Udin recently volunteered her time to put smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in senior citizens’ homes with Parkside

Community Association, a non-profit group that aids the elderly.

And UUP’s “Caring For Communities” program has provided many givebacks to communities across the state over the years, from donating eyeglasses for the Lions Club to collecting food donations for regional food banks.

These are just a few examples of the many ways UUPers choose to give back to their communities on a local, national or international level.

And there are many, many more.

Starting this month, The Voice will begin a new series called “Our Give Backs,” which will spotlight UUPers who take time out of their busy lives to volunteer in their communities and around the globe.

If you’ve got an “Our Give Backs” story you’d like to share, The Voice would love to hear it.

Contact Mike Lisi, UUP’s communications specialist, at (518) 640-6609 or at mlisi@uupmail.org.