Central held its annual Service Day on Oct. 5 with more than 630 volunteers taking part in 43 projects. Service Day has been a cornerstone of the Central experience since 2006.
Students, faculty and staff volunteered for projects in the Des Moines, Pella, Oskaloosa, Grinnell, Newton and Ottumwa area. Service day is organized by Central’s Office of Community-Based Learning and is part of the college’s commitment to service-learning throughout the year.
In total, there were 1,975.5 hours donated with an economic impact of more than $49,000.
“Service Day is an opportunity for students, staff and faculty to join with our community partners to work toward the common good in an impactful way,” says Tori Fyfe, Central’s assistant director of community-based learning. “It is a wonderful way for everyone to learn and practice engaged citizenship in order to work toward positive change in our local, national and international communities.”
Projects included sodding three different properties for Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity; winterizing outdoor garden areas; and sorting and packaging food.
Other highlights of the day include:
- 6,912 meals packaged for Meals from the Heartland
- 1,000+ kits assembled for The Project Primary Health Care
- 500+ trees mulched for Barnswallow Flowers and Produce
- 400 toothbrush kits assembled for Drake Head Start
