GC celebrates a seventh annual day of service to the community Sept. 21

GOSHEN, Ind. — The majority of members of the Goshen College campus will choose serving the community over studying on classes Sept. 21 during the college’s seventh annual Celebrate Service Day. Students, faculty and staff will volunteer a day of work for 36 agencies and organizations throughout Michiana, after gathering for a campus sendoff at 9 a.m. on the College Mennonite Church front lawn. Most groups will arrive at their sites by 10 a.m. or soon after.

Jobs and locations include:

·       A group will assist the Goshen Parks and Recreation Department with light maintenance and clean-up around Shanklin Park and at the Rieth Center. Agency contact: Tonya Mughal (574) 534-2901

·       A group will paint, pull weeds and clean windows at The Post in Goshen, 301 E. Lincoln Ave. Agency contact: Lon Miller, 574-535-8340.

·       Doug Liechty Caskey, professor of communication and theater, is leading his class of first-year students to Greencroft in Goshen to meet with elderly residents and offer oral presentations. 1820 Greencroft Boulevard. Agency contact: Tandy Stutzman, (574) 537-4198.

·       A group will mow, weed, clear trails, paint and repair fences at Loveway, 54151 County Road 33, Goshen. Agency contact: Patricia Volheim, (574) 825-5666.

·       A group will prepare school and medical kits and fold blankets at Mennonite Central Committee: The Depot, 1013 Division St., Goshen. Agency contact: Michelle Norman, (574) 534-4071.

·       Students will prepare and help package cookies and soup mixes at Soup of Success, 629 S. Third St., Elkhart. Agency contact: Betsy Ayrea, (574) 523-1551

·       Students will wash windows, weed flower beds and clean apartments as they interact with residents at Waterford Crossing, 1212 Waterford Circle, Goshen. Agency contact: Sharon Risser, (574) 537-0300.

After a day of service, the volunteers will return to campus for a picnic on the College Green, north of the Administration Building, with accompaniment by the college’s Lavender Jazz band.

Though this is one day of the year set aside by the campus for doing community service, “several hundred students individually or in small groups take on regular community service projects,” according to GC Campus Minister Sylvia Shirk Charles. Some students choose where and when to volunteer on their own initiative or as part of class assignments, while others serve through their churches. Celebrate Service Day introduces many students to volunteer opportunities in the area, and the college also hosts a day for local agencies to solicit student interest, Shirk Charles continued. A student member of the Campus Ministries team, the community voluntary service coordinator, works at connecting students with meaningful assignments.

In addition to Goshen College, Celebrate Service Day 2005 is sponsored by Dunkin Donuts, Krogers, Dutchmade Bakery, Dixie Cream Donuts, Everett’s Grocery, Sodexho-Marriott, Farm Bureau Credit Union and Goshen Community Bank.

Editors: For information or to schedule interviews and photos during Celebrate Service Day, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

###

Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.