A Day to Serve: Service Opportunities to Replace Classes on Tuesday
By Robyn Peterson
Classes are cancelled Tuesday, February 19, but it’s not because it’s the day after President’s Day. Tuesday is “Service Day,” a day set apart for students to get involved with the school and the community.
How to Get Involved
Want to serve but not sure where to start? The Office of Service Coordinating and Reporting can help. The service office, located in Main Hall 340, is available to help sport teams, clubs, and individuals find service projects. Students can stop by the office or contact Charley Bowen at charley.bowen@svu.edu for more information. In addition, there are two planned projects for Service Day listed below, that any student can join.
Nothing But Nets
Nothing But Nets is a basketball tournament to raise money for Malaria prevention in Africa. The three-on-three tournament, which is open to all students, faculty, community, and family, will start at 9am in the Stoddard Center. Students interested in helping, but not playing, can contact Nicole Gwynn at nicole.gwynn@svu.edu.
Beautify Buena Vista
Southern Virginia is organizing a project to pick up litter around Buena Vista. Members of leader-servant and philosophy classes will be participating in this project, but it is open to all students. Students wanting to participate should meet in front of Main Hall at 10am, where they will receive garbage bags and divide into teams to pick up trash along the streets in the community.
Why Serve?
Anyone who’s visited the service office can see a wall covered with quotes from people such as Ghandi and Mother Theresa about the importance of service. When asked why service is an important part of the Southern Virginia University experience, Bowen, Vice President of Service and Community Engagement, said, “As we want to try to become more like the Savior, we want to try to live our lives like He did, and that’s in service to others. That’s why we have all these quotations up here pointing out that when you serve you not only bless the person you’re serving, but you’re blessed as well. I hope our students have that vision. Our motto is ‘gather, lift, launch’ and a large part of that lifting is serving.”
