Central College’s annual Community Service Day is April 15. Central students, faculty, staff and alumni will participate in more than 50 community service projects in Pella and surrounding areas.
Projects will last either full or half days. In Pella, projects include preparing for Tulip Time, spring cleaning at Lake Red Rock campground, cleaning up local parks, cleaning at Pella Aquatic Center and working with schools.
Projects outside of Pella include tidying up exhibits and public areas at Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, spring cleaning a historic church in Knoxville, spending time in classrooms at Mahaska County Head Start in Oskaloosa, organizing and disinfecting the fitness center at Park Centre in Newton and engaging groups of adults with disabilities in activities at Link Associates in Des Moines.
Community Service Day has become a tradition at Central, as students, faculty and staff work to build community and become a more united body. The project is an opportunity for Central to give back to community partners who have helped the college in the past. Although service is not a one-day event or experience, Service Day demonstrates the Central College commitment to on-going service learning.
“For academic service-learning, students sustain their volunteerism throughout the semester, but we established the all-campus service day in order to meet our partners’ needs for half-day or one-day projects that require larger number of volunteers,” said Cheri Doane, director of Community-Based Learning. “Service day allows the college to support organizations in Central Iowa while fostering camaraderie among faculty, staff and students.”
