Oberlin College Student Volunteers Celebrate 10th Day Of Service September 2

August 19, 2006—For more than 170 years, Oberlin undergraduates have integrated their education with community outreach. On Saturday, September 2, the tradition will continue when more than 300 new Oberlin students celebrate the 10th anniversary of the College’s Day of Service (DOS) program by lending their efforts to a wide variety of volunteer projects throughout the area.

“Both student and community partner participation in DOS has grown steadily in recent years,” says Beth Blissman, director of the College’s Center of Service and Learning (CSL), which coordinates the program. "Last year, 337 new students plus 40 volunteer student and staff site leaders served at 21 sites in Lorain, Erie or Huron counties. Even at a modest student pay rate of $7/hour, in one day they contributed over $11,000 worth of work to the non-profit sector!”

Much of what the students do is assist non profits in preparing for the onset of the school year, undertaking ongoing maintenance and new projects, and interacting with nursing home and retirement center residents, but a number of projects are new this year. For example, several first-years will spend the DOS at Full Circle Fuels, an alternative fuel center in Oberlin, collecting used vegetable oil to be processed into biodiesel fuel.

Another group will go to a local historic farm, where they will help the Friends of the Oberlin Underground Railroad prepare the land for a video reenactment of the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue. A third group will remove non-native plant species and plant woodland gardens at the new office of the Firelands Division of Western Reserve Land Conservancy.

“Save Our Children is new to the DOS this year,” says Executive Director Julia Nieves, but we have had a long history with Oberlin College student volunteers. The assistance we will receive through the DOS will help us effect a smoother transition between our summer program and the school-year after school program.“

“It is rare to find a place where so many students will so readily volunteer their time to serve the community,” says DOS Coordinator Avery Book ‘04. “Oberlin has a truly unique and inspiring tradition in the Day of Service, so much so that other schools have begun calling to ask how to organize a Day of Service of their own.”

“The program also is a fantastic opportunity for incoming students to connect with like-minded first years, build relationships within the broader community, and begin thinking critically about how to incorporate community service into their ongoing educational experience,” adds Book. “Getting out and involved before classes begin gives them a more expansive sense of place, and grounds them as new members of this community.”

Book points out that junior Kelly Lloyd will be involved for the third year in a row. Last September she led a group of 20 students on a service project in one of the Lorain County Metro Parks. Her experiences expanded her “perception of Oberlin as not only a college, but a part of a larger community,” she says. The DOS also connected her with friends who were among “the most caring and engaged individuals” she has met at Oberlin.

Sophomore Julie Shapiro agrees. “I had a really wonderful time talking with the residents at welcome Nursing Home my first year. I especially enjoyed hearing their stories about Oberlin's past. Meeting long-time Oberlinians made me want to learn as much as I could about my new community and my neighbors beyond the campus limits.”

• Harvest organically grown food and remove weeds at George Jones Farm;
• Landscape maintenance and interact with residents at Kendal at Oberlin;
• Socialize with residents at Oberlin’s Murray Ridge Group Home;
• Clear out storage areas and perform landscaping duties at Oberlin City Schools;
• Perform landscaping and ready classrooms at Oberlin Early Childhood Center;
• Clean up classrooms and perform landscape maintenance at Boys and Girls Club;
• Undertake trail building/painting at Cindy Nord Center for Renewal on Baird Road;
• Assist after-school education/arts program at Lorain’s Harrison Cultural Community Ctr.;
• Prepare landscaping of new Lorain County Metro Park in Wellington;
• Plant and maintain exotic plants at Lorain County Tropical Greenhouse and Museum;
• Maintenance tasks at the social service agency El Centro de Servicios Sociales in Lorain;
• Assist Elyria YWCA with new food pantry/maintaining and improving emergency housing;
• Clear brush from a new trail in Huron County with Firelands Rails to Trails;
• Prepare a new computer lab and development office for the Lorain County Urban League;
• Help build two houses with Habitat for Humanity;
• Clear brush from the Bike Path.