COLUMN: Year of service continues
On behalf of the Val R. Christensen Service Center and the Service Council, I would like to first thank the students of Aggie Nation who have donated so much service this past year. Together, we have accounted for more than 20,000 hours of service and have had close to 3,000 volunteers.
We started the year off with a record-setting Blood Battle victory over the school down south, collecting 1,435 units of blood.
In November and December, we participated in Penny Wars and Stuff-a-Bus, collecting more than $10,000 and 22,000 pounds of food. All of this provided Christmas for hundreds of children in the Cache Valley.
We have tutored in elementary and middle schools, mentored children of all ages, been translators at parent-teacher conferences, cheered and coached our Special Olympic athletes to victory, partied with the elderly and raised awareness about poverty in all parts of the world. There is a certain spirit of service that exists on our campus and it has really shined this year.
But the success of the year are far from over. April 6-11 is Service Week and our theme this year is “Rising to the Challenge.” The theme reflects one of the major goals of this week, to raise money for the non-profit organization, Mali Rising. All of the money collected will be used to build a school in Mali, a country in Africa. So look for places to donate, every little bit helps.
Also during Service Week, we have been challenged by Weber State to a blood battle. So stick out those arms and help us claim victory once again.
Service Week also gives rise to our first annual Aggielocks hair donation event Thursday, April 9. Aggielocks is a campaign dedicated to encourage students of USU and the community to grow, cut and donate their hair (roughly 8-10 inches) to the Wigs for Kids and Pantene Beautiful Lengths Organizations for the victims of cancer in the nation. If you are interested in donating your hair, contact Jamila McFarland, jam.islami@aggiemail.usu.edu. Salons from around the valley have donated their time to come cut hair and there are already more than 20 individuals who have committed to donating their hair. Speakers will include Joyce Albrecht so come on over to the TSC on Thursday and, if you can’t donate hair, support those who are making such a huge decision to help others.
Service Week will be an awesome opportunity to continue to serve our campus and community. Check out the schedule and take a few minutes out of your day to come help out.
We have all sorts of activities, from mini-golf and sorting parties, to Extreme Room Makeovers and the movie “Super Size Me.”
Come on out and let’s do some service. Go Aggies!
This column was written by Brett Healy, ASUSU’s service vice president.