GVSU Community Gears Up for Annual Day of Service

Grand Valley State University students, faculty are participating in Make a Difference Day 2008 on October 25. This national day of service, promoted by USA Today, is entering its 18th year. Participants are given the opportunity to give back to the Grand Rapids community on the nation's largest single day of service.

Participants are scheduled to arrive at Grand Valley's Pew Grand Rapids Campus at 8:30 a.m., where they will hear from Steve Faber, associate director of The Delta Strategy. Participants will then be bused to various sites throughout the community to work on different service projects from 11 a.m. -1 p.m. After the community service is completed, participants will have lunch at the sites and reflect on their experiences from the day to bring a deeper meaning to the service they completed that day.  All participants will return by bus to the Pew Campus by 2 p.m.

Make a Difference Day not only provides students with a great service opportunity, but also leadership experience as well. There are site leaders who will be in charge of leading each group at the participating service sites.

Many of the participants will have the opportunity to work on a variety of service projects working with social issues like hunger, homelessness, animal care, women and children, the environment, and multiculturalism. 

“Make a Difference Day is vital to building community, and also for building active citizens from the participants who are involved,” said Heather Hallagan, the service initiatives graduate assistant in the Office of Student Life at Grand Valley and coordinator of Make a Difference Day 2008. “This event is important because it moves people past simply volunteering. This type of program is designed to educate participants about the bigger social issues connected to the service projects they're involved in completing.”

More than 400 students, faculty, and staff have registered for Grand Valley's campus wide day of service. They will be serving at more than 15 community agencies in the Grand Rapids community. 

For more information, contact Hallagan at [email protected] or (616) 331-2854.