Skip to Content Skip to Content

Side Gigs for Good

Penn nurse manager brings health resources to her tribal community
Sherry Caputo in front of the Lenape Tribal Grounds building.

Image: Courtesy of Sherry Caputo

Penn nurse manager brings health resources to her tribal community

Outside of her day job as a nurse manager for Penn Medicine at Home, Sherry “Strong Sun Spirit” Caputo has helped bring mental health education, COVID resources, and nutrition programming to her tribal community, the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation in New Jersey.
Bringing the US Navy’s 250-year history to life
J.J. Ahern stands in a storage area in the University Archives.

Penn archivist J.J. Ahern.

(nocred)

Bringing the US Navy’s 250-year history to life

Penn archivist J.J. Ahern has been putting his professional experience and personal passion for the past to work as a volunteer for the Navy’s 250th anniversary curating an exhibition about the human side of the service’s history.

3 min. read

Penn staff make the Philadelphia area a better place through side gigs
Mary Kinney dropping off knitwear for donation.

(Image: Eric Sucar)

Penn staff make the Philadelphia area a better place through side gigs

The 12th piece in Penn Today’s Side Gigs for Good series highlights staff who mentor and empower Latino professionals, lead Girl Scout troops, donate hand-knitted items to people in need, and connect Philadelphia children with music opportunities.
Dedicating time to side gigs for good in the community
Paul Best performs at Penn Museum.

Paul Best performs at a Keepers of the Culture event at the Penn Museum in the fall of 2019.

(Image: Courtesy of Paul Best)

Dedicating time to side gigs for good in the community

The 11th piece in this series highlights a museum educator who also teaches people through an Afrocentric storytelling group, a research coordinator volunteering with an LGBTQ+ band, a nurse collecting children’s books, and a Spanish lecturer picking up trash.
Making time off a time for side gigs for good
mary berger

Making time off a time for side gigs for good

Penn Today profiles four faculty and staff members who use their time and talents to help others.

Michele W. Berger , Katherine Unger Baillie

Side Gigs for Good across Penn
Classroom full of girls seated at wooden desks with Fatima Al Rashed seated in front of the blackboard in the front of the class.

Side Gigs for Good across Penn

For many, 2020 was a difficult year. Despite that, the community found ways to go above and beyond, in their own backyards and across the world.

Katherine Unger Baillie , Michele W. Berger

Fostering kittens, plus more Side Gigs for Good
A dog sitting on a couch, with a kitten nuzzled in its lap.

This summer, Morgan Hoke in Penn’s Anthropology department fostered four kittens, including Finch seen here, cuddling with Hoke’s dog Nuna. (Image: Courtesy Morgan Hoke)

Fostering kittens, plus more Side Gigs for Good

Around nearly any corner, the Penn community’s selflessness shines through, despite months apart due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Katherine Unger Baillie , Michele W. Berger

Side Gigs for Good endure amid a pandemic
Person with a mask sitting on a bench holding a bowl of green beans next to a sign that says Beth David

Inspired to make her synagogue community more sustainable, Jane Horwitz of the Science Outreach Initiative helped congregants grow green beans for distribution to a local food pantry. (Image: Courtesy of Jane Horwitz)

Side Gigs for Good endure amid a pandemic

The Penn community’s altruism shines as the pandemic’s effects stretch on.

Katherine Unger Baillie , Michele W. Berger

More Side Gigs for Good during COVID-19
Children receive food from people working at a table wearing masks

As the pandemic hit, recent grad Alexandria Brake (holding “Go Team” sign) and colleagues at the St. James School in North Philadelphia began distributing groceries and other supplies to students and their families. (Image: Courtesy of Alexandria Brake)

More Side Gigs for Good during COVID-19

In the latest installment of the Side Gigs for Good series, Penn Today hears from faculty, staff, and students who have been continuing to care for their communities as the pandemic’s effects stretch on.

Katherine Unger Baillie , Michele W. Berger

Side Gigs for Good during COVID-19
Person wearing a face mask in a grocery store standing next to a shopping cart.

Side Gigs for Good during COVID-19

Whether making masks, writing letters, raising funds, or shopping for neighbors, members of the Penn community have stepped up during the pandemic to support those in need.

Michele W. Berger , Katherine Unger Baillie