Into the Streets! Annual Day of Service

An army of more than 150 Westminster College students, faculty and staff took to the Fulton streets on Saturday, Oct. 18 to make a difference in the local community – to do everything from painting to moving furniture.  It would have cost the businesses, organizations, and families who were helped $6,877.92 if they had hired someone for the work provided on Saturday. Westminster College students, faculty and staff spend at least 10,000 hours every year doing community service.

“Since service-learning  is a large component of the Westminster educational experience, we kick off our Homecoming Week with ‘Into the Streets’ and our students leave the Westminster campus to go out into the streets of Fulton to engage in service projects for the local community,” says Kari Lenz, Westminster Fellow for Community Engagement & Service-Learning, who organized and coordinated the day’s activities.  “Teaching students to become involved in their communities is an important part of our mission here at Westminster College.

Fifteen different projects were undertaken at city sites such as the Soup Kitchen, Stinson Creek, Micah House, Clothes Cupboard, Faith Maternity, Community Garden and Center for Women’s Ministries. Student volunteers spent the day landscaping, painting, cleaning, raking leaves, pulling weeds, trimming, moving furniture and picking up the Stinson Creek trail. The day is supported by Westminster Service Corps, the Office of Community Engagement and Service-Learning and the Emerson Center for Leadership & Service.

Sponsors of this year’s event include African Union Organization, Alpha Gamma Delta, Chinese Club, Delta Tau, Delta, ECoS, the Emerson Center, Engineering Ambassadors, Habitat for Humanity, International Club, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Making Lives Better, Phi Delta Theta, Remley Women’s Center, Service Corps, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and Sigma Chi.