Students exceed service goal by thousands of hours
When Utah State University students rally to donate time for service in honor of Sept. 11, they rally in a big way.
A total of 732 USU students joined together Thursday to pledge 31,353 hours of service-work in honor of the second anniversary of Sept. 11.
The idea to pledge service hours was used as a more upbeat alternative to holding a candlelight vigil, said Heather Bankhead, United Campus Volunteers
director at the Val R. Christensen Service Center.
“We wanted to honor 9/11 and make sure we did something for it,” Bankhead said. “We really wanted to focus on the future and not really remember the sorrow.”
Students pledged a total of 131 and a half days of volunteer support for activities like Friends of the Elderly, tutoring, hospital visits and other forms of community service.
Bankhead said the number of hours pledged far exceeded her expectations.
“Our goal was 3,031 [hours],” she said. “That over ten-timesed it.”
Six tables were set up around campus to accept the pledges Thursday, Bankhead said. About 40 people from various organizations such as the International Student Council, Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority, Associated Students of USU, Education Council and the Latter-day Saints Student Association Service Committee volunteered to help accept pledges for hours.
A dunk-tank sponsored by the American Red Cross was also set up on the Taggart Student Center patio for students to take turns trying to dunk ASUSU officers and other campus personalities. Proceeds from the dunk tank went to benefit the Red Cross.
Inside the TSC, students wrote 93 letters to troops as part of the service project “Troop Fan Mail.”
Ryan Martin, a freshman majoring in chemistry, helped get students started in writing their letters.
“People just come up as they’re wandering through the TSC,” Martin said.
Many students who pledged service noted on their pledge that they would be willing to do any kind of service. Bankhead said there are many service opportunities available at the service center for anyone seeking help finding a project.
This weekend, the Special Olympics Invitational will be held at the HPER swimming pool. Students interested in volunteering for that event should show up to the pool at 9:30 a.m., Saturday, said Nellene Howard, assistant director for service and leadership for ASUSU.
Howard said a list will be posted each month at the service center for students interested in one-time service opportunities. Students seeking on-going service opportunities should visit the service center’s Web site at http://servicecenter.usu.edu.
Bankhead said the day as a whole was a great way to honor the victims of Sept. 11 and to move forward into the future.
“We still wanted to do something respectful for it and remember [Sept. 11],” she said. “If you’re really sorry about something, you’ll take some action and do something about it.”
– str@cc.usu.edu