Source: Lucretia Helms, 785-532-3670, ljh@k-state.edu
Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007
K-STATE COMMUNITY SERVICE WEEK OCT. 27-NOV. 3
MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University's Community Service Week, Oct. 27-Nov. 3, will provide 150 K-State students and community members with a wide range of activities.
With 13 sites sponsoring projects, there is an opportunity to match almost every interest, according to Lynda Bachelor, coordinator of the K-State Volunteer Center of Manhattan, which is in charge of planning and organizing events for Community Service Week this year. The center is the newest addition to the university's civic leadership component of K-State leadership studies and programs.
Most of the students involved in Community Service Week are from K-State's university experience course for freshmen. The volunteer center also is using other students from K-State's leadership studies program and is bringing in community members for the first time as volunteers.
The week kicks off with Make a Difference Day, Saturday, Oct. 27. Make a Difference Day is a national day of service that is recognized every fourth Saturday in October. For the last 17 years, the day has been encouraging millions in America to help others. The grand finale of Community Service Week is Saturday, Nov. 3, and will be a neighborhood cleanup day, a part of the campus-community initiative of the Good Neighbor Program in Manhattan.
Projects during Community Service Week include organizing for the Flint Hills Breadbasket and the Salvation Army Thrift Store. Some students will carve pumpkins with residents at Meadowlark Hills, while others will be a part of the Manhattan Art Center's annual "Wrap it Up" art exhibit and sale. Students also will assist with programs for children through the Wonder Workshop, K-State Child Development Center, Sunflower CASA and K-State's Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art. The Manhattan Community Gardens and Big Brothers-Big Sisters building will have outdoor projects available as well.
Students and community members who want to volunteer should contact Kim Frazier at 785-532-3670 or kfrazier@k-state.edu. Frazier, of K-State's AmeriCorps VISTA program, wants to get K-State students more aware and involved in the community. Even though they are only here for a short time, students can make a difference, she said.
Bachelor agrees. "Leaders within their respective communities most often started out as volunteers," she said. "This week engages campus and community into service and volunteer opportunities. It helps students become familiar with nonprofits and organizations, as well as identifies social needs within a community."