What does 51,060 hours mean to you? 

To the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, it is the amount of time that members of the UMass Medical School community dedicated to volunteer activities in the state during the past year, as recorded in the UMass Medicine Cares database. In support of this institution-wide commitment to giving back, the Office of Community and Government Relations, in collaboration with the United Way of Central Massachusetts, will hold the second UMass Medicine Cares Volunteer Fair on Thursday, Jan. 27, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the old Medical School lobby on the Worcester campus.

Dozens of area human services organizations will be on hand to help UMMS students, staff and faculty find community service opportunities that match their personal interests, availability and skills. “The Medical School was founded with a very public mission in mind, in terms of health care and access to education in the commonwealth,” said James Leary, vice chancellor for Community and Government Relations. “During the past 40 years, that mission has permeated into the culture of the school to the point where, whether it is a faculty member, a student or a staff person, there is a real commitment to service in the communities in which we live.”

UMass Medicine Cares began in 2009 as an interactive, online database enabling students, faculty and staff to document the volunteer activities they participate in outside of the workplace. Since then, it has expanded into a multi-faceted initiative that encourages and supports the volunteer efforts of members of the UMMS community.