Service on Saturday
Coming Together for a Great Cause
By Mckenzi Dailey
Many would not guess that most college kids would be up before noon on a Saturday morning but that is another thing that sets NKU apart from many schools. On Saturday, October 10, 2009, over 600 students, friends, and family members of NKU came together for a great cause.
Service on Saturday is held once each semester at NKU. This fall, it was held during Family Week, allowing students and their families to get involved together and do something great. Instead of having students do community service on their own and sporadically, NKU organizes the event so it is done in an effective way.
"There is no better exercise for your heart, than reaching down and helping to lift someone up."
Bernard Meltzer
The day started about 9 a.m. when participants arrived in the NKU Student Union. A great start to any day for college students is a free meal – and that is just what they got. Breakfast and t-shirts were given to all participants as a "thank you" for their service. Then they were broken into groups and sent into the community. There were Greek groups, student organization groups, University 101 classes, and many more. FSCL and NKLI also played a huge part in making the day a success by organizing the event and working the registration tables.
Many places in the community were visited by NKU students and their families. They went to the Devou Boys Home to play sports with the boys, Redwood Rehabilitation Center where they cleaned and help landscape, Campbell Lodge Boys Home where they helped set up for a spaghetti dinner, and even The Down Syndrome Association walk where they were team captains for the walk groups. One of the groups was able to work with the residents at the Lakeside Park Community. It was a neat opportunity for students because the home is located next door to the new dorms (Callahan Hall) across from Kroger. The students helped the elderly residents paint pumpkins.
Around 2 p.m., the day started to wrap up and students headed back to campus. The feedback from the event was positive.
Latoya, an employee at the Lakeside Residence, called Monday to tell NKU how much the residents loved painting pumpkins and that they can’t stop talking about what a great time they had.
Jeff Barone’s University 101 class was one of that teams that participated this weekend. They were so impacted they plan to do another community service event as a class.
Service On Saturday is a great event for NKU students and those in the community of Campbell County.
For more information on upcoming Service On Saturday’s please contact Rebekah James.