Spokane offers a variety of “extracurriculars” for seniors leaving behind the easy opportunities of college communities and students looking for ways to engage with the wider community. These opportunities to engage include clubs, events and community service.  

Clubs in Spokane include both book clubs and running clubs. Aunties, an independent bookstore downtown, offers up multiple book club opportunities ranging from a science and nature book club to the queer & weird book club that meet in person monthly. Aunties also offers two book clubs that meet over Zoom for those who need more flexible arrangements. To be sent zoom links for these meetings, Aunties directs interested readers to email auntiesbooks@gmail.com. The book clubs are marketed as low pressure events where signups or monthly attendance are not required. 

Running clubs are available through Fleet Feet a running gear store that also hosts group runs. Fleet Feet offers training programs and lists out all of Spokane’s various run clubs on their site. These run clubs range from all running abilities to advanced runners only tailored to your physical capabilities and interests.  

Spokane also has a vibrant event community which provides opportunities to become a greater part of the community. Brick West, holds trivia nights every Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. and is just one of the many bars and breweries that host trivia nights in Spokane. For one-time events, the site Visit Spokane has an event calendar that shows upcoming events from sports games to small creative workshops.  

Community service is another way to both meet your community and make a difference. Southside Christian Church runs a food pantry and offers several ways to get involved and help keep it running. The food collected is distributed on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. and volunteers help serve almost 300 families every week. Our Place Community Outreach another food pantry, also offers volunteer opportunities during the week to assist the community in a variety of ways. For more volunteering opportunities, the site Volunteer Spokane lists upcoming volunteering events.  

It can be hard to jump from the safety of college programing into the wider communities around you. Hopefully, these are a variety of ways that the first step to engagement can be taken.