If you are looking to get involved and help out in your local community, East Tennessee State University’s Service Saturdays could be a great match for you.
Each month students can sign up for the service and help out. Students meet on campus the morning of the service date at the Cave Patio at 8:30 a.m. and carpool to various locations with their assigned groups. Service will last until approximately noon. According to the event’s page on the ETSU website, the locations vary between indoors and outdoors depending on the weather.
The website states, “Simply register, show up the morning of, and serve! Serving in the Johnson City community has never been easier or more FUN!”
Once signed up, the Service Saturday Coordinator and/or Site Leader will be in touch with you regarding further details.
The monthly service is part of the Leadership and Civic Engagement Student Organization, and is sponsored by the Volunteer ETSU Student Group.
The Leadership and Civic Engagement Student Organization’s page on the ETSU website focuses on three key words: educate, engage and empower. Under each keyword, an element about the organization is discussed.
Under educate the focus is on Service Saturdays and blood drives.
“In providing educational opportunities, we hope to challenge students to evaluate their roles in the community and how their lifestyles and behavior can make an impact on the community,” the webpage states.
Similar to the educate header, engage and empower include a strong emphasis on the importance of getting involved in the community.
Some of the programs highlighted on the webpage are: the Alternative Spring Break Program, holiday giving, blood drives, Community Service Plunge, Hunger And Homeless Awareness Week and Martin Luther King, Jr. Service Events.
One of the more media recognized days of service the group has done was the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service. This event, which took place in January of this year, was recognized by local news station, WJHL.
According to the WJHL article, volunteering students reported for duty at Johnson City’s Habitat for Humanity store. They constructed walls that will be used in future Habitat homes. Other volunteers used their day off to volunteer at Coalition for Kids and the Carver Recreation Center.
The Service Saturdays for this semester are this Saturday and April 21.
For more information on the organization, as well as to register for Service Saturdays, you can go to https://www.etsu.edu/students/sorc/organizations/civicengagement/default.php.
