Central College Community Service Day April 19

Last year, nearly 700 students, faculty and staff participated in Community Service Day. Central students read books with students at Monroe Elementary, helped Des Moines area students enrolled in Gear Up, cut up T-shirts to make mats Haiti at a church in Newton and helped out at the Head Start program in Oskaloosa.

PELLA — Central College’s sixth annual Community Service Day is Tuesday, April 19. Central students, faculty, staff and alumni will sign up to help with one of more than 65 community service projects in Pella and surrounding areas.

Some projects in Pella include preparing for Tulip Time, removing trash from Lake Red Rock, cleaning up local parks, helping with yard work and window washing and working with schools.

Projects outside of Pella include preparing craft kits for children at the State Historical Society of Iowa in Des Moines, serving breakfast and playing with elementary and middle school students at Children and Family Urban Ministries in Des Moines, planting and mulching potatoes at Blue Gate Farm in Chariton, reading and helping preschoolers with activities at Mahaska County Head Start in Oskaloosa and helping people with disabilities through exhibits at Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge in Prairie City. A few projects will occur only in the morning or afternoon, while others will last all day.

Community Service Day is part of a campaign for Central students, faculty and staff to build community and become a more united body. Aside from community building efforts, this project is an opportunity for Central to give back to community partners who have helped the college in the past.

“While our academic service-learning program provides sustained volunteerism throughout the semester, our community partners often request large numbers of volunteers for bigger-scale projects,” said Cheri Doane, director of community-based learning. “The service day allows us to assist with those projects.”