N.C. State’s Habitat for Humanity campus chapter, one of 500 campus chapters worldwide, is expanding its tutoring-service initiatives on campus to reach the entire community.

Twice a week, NCSU members tutor children of the Habitat for Humanity families in Wake County. Participants of this service tutor students of all different ages in any subject.

“One of the goals of Habitat for Humanity is to improve the community,” said Molly Widmyer, sophomore in biomedical engineering and co-chair of the University’s outreach and education service of Habitat for Humanity. “That doesn’t mean just building houses but also [improving the community] through education.”

According to Widmyer, the tutoring service expanded this year because the members learned that there were so many more children to tutor outside of the Habitat for Humanity families.

“We started out with just the Habitat families, but we learned that there were so many kids and a lot of students were willing to help tutor,” Widmyer said. “So we expanded to the Boys and Girls Club because our goal is to reach the whole community.”

Every Tuesday and Thursday, the tutors drive to the Raleigh Boys and Girls Club, a national after-school organization for children to stay occupied in a safe environment.

The Raleigh Boys and Girls Club is located downtown Raleigh where members tutor the children for one and a half hours. Students from the Raleigh Boys and Girls Club, as well as children from the Habitat for Humanity families in Wake County, attend these tutoring services.

“[The club] is a safe place for [the children] to hang out to do their homework, play games and keep them occupied,” said Brian Petullo, junior in biological sciences and co-chair of the outreach and education services of Habitat for Humanity. “It’s so they’re not out on the streets and in bad areas.”

In previous years, the tutoring service was one day per week, while this year’s service was expanded to two days per week.

Widmyer said tutors have thoroughly enjoyed working and helping the children.

“Most of the [tutors] that come become regulars and we see the same faces every week,” she said. “It’s really an awesome feeling when something so basic to you like multiplication and addition, you are able to share that information with someone who doesn’t understand it.”

According to Petullo, there are about 25 Habitat for Humanity families in Wake County who attend the tutoring services, which includes about 20 to 30 children, mainly elementary and middle-school aged.

“You feel like there’s nobody else to help [these children],” Zach Cope, tutor and freshman in aerospace engineering, said. “When you work with them, they really want to work with you.”

Cope has been tutoring for the past three weeks and said he really enjoys being involved in the tutoring service.

“When I go over there and work with them, the first thing they do is hug you,” he said. “I guess that’s when I realized how much they needed our help. It’s fun working with them because they joke around and tell us about their days. It’s like having a little brother or sister.”

The University’s chapter has about 1,500 members overall, according to Petullo. Of the 1,500 members, there are 40 to 50 tutors, and 15 tutors volunteer for the tutoring service each Tuesday and Thursday.

Widmyer said not only do the tutors enjoy being a part of the service, but the children also love the tutoring service and their tutors.

“Many [children] come in when they don’t even have homework,” she said. “They always talk about N.C. State and lots of them want to go to State because of this.”