Service Learning director highlights UNE's community impact at statewide volunteer commission conference

Trisha Mason, M.A., director of Service Learning at the University of New England, recently represented UNE at the Volunteer Maine Leadership Conference in Augusta on Aug. 4, where she presented her insights on the value of student and community service partnerships and joined peers from across Maine for a panel discussion on the role of service in higher education.

Volunteer Maine is the state’s office service commission, working to build capacity in the local volunteer sector by funding community programs, training volunteer leaders, and promoting civic engagement. The theme of its 2026 conference was “40 Years of Mainers Helping Mainers” and recognized four decades of community resilience, neighborly care, and collective action.

At the conference in the state’s capital city, Mason spoke as part of a panel on “Service in Higher Education” alongside representatives from Bowdoin College, College of the Atlantic, and the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service. She also delivered a session on “High Impact Student Service Initiatives, Powered by Community Partnerships,” in collaboration with Susan Scacchi, executive director of the Maine Masonic Charitable Foundation.

As director of Service Learning at UNE, Mason oversees experiential learning initiatives that connect academic study with critical societal needs. 

Under her leadership, UNE’s Service Learning programs prepare future healthcare providers to understand the real-world public health challenges facing vulnerable populations. A signature program success is her founding of the “Meals for Maine” program that mobilizes hundreds of student and community volunteers to package and distribute hundreds of thousands of nutritious meals across all 16 Maine counties.

The program has distributed over 350,000 meals to people facing food insecurity across Maine since its inception in 2023. On Sept. 16, hundreds of volunteers across both of UNE’s Maine campuses will assemble another 200,000 meals for distribution to Mainers in need. 

Mason has successfully expanded the program’s reach beyond University walls, forging vital community alliances with organizations like the Maine Masonic Charitable Foundation and regional healthcare groups.

Other key initiatives spearheaded by Mason include the assembly of thousands of harm-reduction kits for individuals being released from custody of Maine prisons, student reading sessions for children in local elementary schools, community-building events between UNE students and residents of assisted living facilities, and more.

“It was a privilege to showcase the outstanding work of our UNE students and highlight the success of our long-standing community partnerships to this influential group of volunteers, service coordinators, civic leaders, and local advocates,” Mason said, reflecting on her experience at the conference. “Connecting with fellow university programs and passionate local nonprofit leaders was incredibly inspiring and opens new doors to strengthen our collective impact.”