Monday, Aug. 19, will mark the second annual Michigan State University Day of Service: Taking it to the Streets. Hundreds of MSU staff members and students will gather together to give back to the greater-Lansing area through volunteer work at several locations.
Volunteers will include all residence education staff members, intercultural aides, members of MSU’s Multi-Racial United Living Experience Program and other student leaders from across the campus.
“We hope to provide students with meaningful interactions in the communities surrounding the university,” said Kathy Collins, director for MSU’s Residence Education and Housing Services. “Our goal is for students to return to campus having learned many lessons through service that will translate into their work here at MSU and beyond graduation.”
Throughout the day, volunteers will engage in a variety of tasks at sites supporting public low-income housing, parks and nature centers, community centers, cemeteries, organizations battling homelessness and providing feeding assistance, as well as other nonprofits in the Lansing and East Lansing area. This year, there will also be an increased focus on personal interactions, with added activities for seniors and children in the latter part of the day.
“This event allows our staff to think about life outside the walls of MSU from an intercultural, gender, social and economic lens,” said Joshua Gillespie, assistant director of Residence Education.
Volunteers will meet at the Rock on MSU’s campus on Farm Lane at 8:30 a.m. to hear remarks from speakers emphasizing the importance of the service projects set for the day. Volunteers will then participate in breakout sessions and travel to volunteer sites.
The event is made possible with the help of MSU’s Department of Residence Education and Housing Services; Office of Cultural and Academic Transitions; MSU’s Center for Service Learning and Civic Engagement; Lansing mayor Virg Bernero; Lansing’s departments of Parks and Recreation, Facility Maintenance, Fire and Police; Lansing Public Housing; Lansing Human Relations and Community Services department; and the city of East Lansing.
To follow the activities happening throughout the second Annual MSU Day of Service, check out “MSULiveOn” on Twitter and Instagram and follow the hashtag #DayOfServiceMSU to join the conversation.
For a full list of volunteer sites and details, visit www.liveon.msu.edu.
Residence Education and Housing Services is a department of the Division of Residential and Hospitality Services at Michigan State University.