5th annual ‘Day of Service’ planned for April 6
HILLSDALE — Hillsdale community members and college students will join together April 6 to work on 30 service projects around the community in the fifth annual Day of Service.
This year, The Hillsdale College GOAL program and The Hillsdale County Community Foundation (HCCF) are partnering together to sponsor the event — which they hope will have upwards of 500 volunteers.
“Through Day of Service, we hope to facilitate a stronger connection between the college students and the wider Hilldale community. There is no better way to bond with your neighbor than serving alongside them,” said Mary Ann Powers, director of the GOAL program.
Sharon Bisher, CEO of HCCF, said the foundation is looking forward to the opportunity to partner with the GOAL program.
“The foundation has been funding the GOAL programs for the past five years and we saw an opportunity to kind of enhance our partnership by also providing funding for the Day of Service,” Bisher said. “We also wanted to do more than just provide the funding. We also want to provide physical support.”
This means that HCCF will also be helping provide volunteers for the Day of Service. Bisher said this is a critical part of the foundation’s work in the community.
“The foundation really promotes the spirit of philanthropy and I think that giving back to our community is part of that mission,” she said. “It’s a little-known fact that the college pours so many hours of community service in our community, and we are really just wanting to bring awareness to that and that strong partnership.”
The Day of Service will start with check-in at 9 a.m. in the Searle Center at Hillsdale College. After check-in, teams will disperse to their various project sites for a three-hour service project, after which they will return to the Searle Center for lunch.
There is a wide variety of projects teams will be working on throughout the community.
“Projects will include spring cleaning and painting King Kupboard’s Food Pantry, performing yard work for local community members, cleaning up Mrs. Stocks Park, painting a mural on the side of the Hillsdale Brewing Co. and packing miscarriage kits,” Powers said.
The Hillsdale College alumni association will also be informally partnering with the Day of Service as it has invited alumni to return to participate for the day.
“We consider service to our communities as a marker of good alumni living. And as students develop that habit here on campus during Day of Service, we hope to continue to foster that spirit after they have graduated,” said Braden VanDyke, associate director of Alumni Relations.
Powers said she hopes to have lots of support from community members for the Day of Service.
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“Working with returning community members to plan service projects I have heard a lot of positive feedback about last year and excitement for this year which has been very encouraging,” she said. “Tune into WCSR to hear our commercial for Day of Service sponsored by HCCF!”
Bisher said that she hopes community members will get involved in volunteering in the community, even if they aren’t able to attend the Day of Service.
“We are really promoting to join us if you have some time on that day. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be on that day,” Bisher said. “We really just want to encourage people to give back to the community, find a project, put together a team and make a difference in our community.”
— Elyse Apel is a correspondent for The Hillsdale Daily News. She can be reached by email at ehawkins@hillsdale.edu.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: 5th annual ‘Day of Service’ planned for April 6
