Students of AMF campus chapters connect and empower grieving college students to support one another and empower the campus community to take action through service. provide an environment where grieving college students can relate to peers who are also going through the challenges of grief during their college years. Each campus chapter consists of a Support Group and a Service Group. Any college student can request to start a chapter on his or her campus and we’ll help you through each step of the process (click here for an overview).
Students of AMF chapters are intended to complement, not replace, other grief support offerings on campus. These may include campus counseling, campus ministry, residential life, student life, and faculty and administration. In fact, Campus Chapters work extensively with these campus resources, refer students reciprocally, and promote them with the “student voice.”
Chapter Support Group
The chapter support group is a peer-led, open-discussion group that brings together students that share similar experiences with grieving the illness or death of a loved one. It provides a positive, supportive, and proactive outlet for thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
Support group members, who may be enrolled undergraduate or graduate students, meet twice a month in an informal on-campus setting. Students discuss specific situations they’ve encountered, empathize with one another, and share coping techniques. The support group is not counseling, yet all students that can either provide or receive support are invited and encouraged to attend these meetings.
The support group meetings have helped me so much; it is comforting to know other people have the same thoughts.
Kevin, class of 2007
Georgetown University
Chapter Service Group
The chapter Service Group, which is open to the entire campus community, encourages members to channel their grief towards championing (raising money and awareness for) causes that have impacted their own or their peers’ lives. The Service Group provides a tangible and therapeutic benefit for the bereaved, a positive impact on the community at large, and an opportunity for friends of the bereaved to show their support. Each chapter service group is free to choose its own service projects; activities are often chosen in honor of a loved one or in support of a cause that has directly impacted the campus community.
The service projects are what really make this support group unique. We are proactive and help to prevent other people from having to go through the same experiences.
Ruthis, class of 2009
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
- Students of AMF at Meredith @ Light the Night Walk
Students of AMF at Carolina @ Out of the Darkness Suicide Prevention Walk
Students of AMF at the University of Evansville @ Undy 200 Run for Colon Cancer
Students of AMF at Penn @ Ronald McDonald House