Volunteerism was in the air Tuesday when 125 students spent 217 hours giving back to their community during Student Philanthropy Committee’s second annual Giving Tuesday event.
Giving Tuesday, a national day of service, occurs on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving and was celebrated with SPC’s hosting of service opportunities including letter writing, dog toy making and ornament decorating. The 217 hours exceeded SPC’s 216-hour goal by one hour.
“Students want to give back, but students are really really busy, so we really try to make it as convenient as possible,” said Morgan Trussel, the graduate advisor for SPC.
The event was held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room of the Union, and students were able to come and go as they wished.
Allison Palmer, a senior and member of National PanHellenic Council, wrote letters of thanks and support and made dog toys out of t-shirts.
Volunteerism is Palmer’s passion, she said. “I think it’s something that other college students should do.”
Palmer is majoring in applied health science and wants to be a physician.
“I can tie volunteerism to my career because I want to give back and volunteer my time and not just work,” Palmer said.
She is seeking medical schools that produce physicians who work in underserved areas.
Sophomore Cary Flanders wrote letters of support to victims and survivors at The Cocoon Shelter. Flanders, a member of Alpha Chi Omega, often performs service for the Cocoon with her sorority.
“It’s kind of nice to be able to do something not just with our sisters but with other people in the community, to see that they’re also involved with the Cocoon,” Flanders said.
The day of service was an opportunity for Greek and other organization members in need of fulfilling service hours.
“It feels good to give back to people that aren’t as fortunate,” one fraternity member said.
Sophomore Aliyah Ripley’s service sorority, Omega Phi Alpha, also works with The Cocoon as well as Woodhaven, a local nursing home, and Woodlane, which provides services for individuals with developmental disabilities.
“There’s a lot more value in giving back than people realize,” Ripley said. “Because you’re not just giving back to others, but it also makes you feel really good, too.”
Ripley also wrote letters of thanks to her family members at the event.
For freshman Nia Britton, writing holiday letters to soldiers was personal. Both of her parents were in the service and cherished letters they received from schools.
A total of 70 holiday cards were written for soldiers during the event.
“It’s just repeating what someone did for my parents for someone else’s parents,” Britton said.
Britton and her friend Lisa Dziko, also a freshman, don’t need service hours, but were volunteering their time for fun.
“It’s not strenuous to give back,” Dziko said. “It’s nice to be nice.”
The event also included a passive option of giving meal swipes towards the Falcon Care program. 122 swipes were donated on Tuesday.
The 217 hours donated included the time spent to make 154 t-shirt dog toys, write 54 thank you and 70 holiday cards, decorate 110 Valentine’s Day themed bags for Meals on Wheels and make 64 holiday ornaments for the Wood County Committee on Aging. Over $300 was also raised for student scholarships.
A steering committee had been meeting once every two weeks for the last few months in order to plan Tuesday’s event, said Mary Fleck, SPC’s recruitment and retention chair. Planning involved marketing the event and organizing the service opportunities.
“Whether you realize it or not, your life has been touched by some form of volunteerism, so it’s really important to pass that on and pay it forward,” Fleck said.
The committee was comprised of the Student Philanthropy Committee, the Center for Community and Civic Engagement, Undergraduate Student Government, Office of Alumni, Alpha Phi Omega and many others.
“You don’t have to have a million dollars to give back, you don’t have to have a lot of time to give back, you just have to give back when you can,” Trussel said. “Pay it forward whenever you can.”
