Inside Iowa State

March 14, 2008

Volunteer for Veishea Service Day

by Paula Van Brocklin

The 2008 Veishea celebration isn't until the week of April 7, but festivities kick off Saturday, March 29, with the second annual Veishea Service Day.

Veishea organizers encourage individuals from Iowa State and Ames to give up one Saturday to help out their community. Some of the volunteer opportunities include mulching and painting at the Boys and Girls Club; cleaning at Friendship Ark homes; and organizing donations for ACCESS.

Service Day coincides with two other community service projects -- the Ames Tribune's "Stash the Trash" day and ISU's ongoing "Keep Iowa State Beautiful" campaign.

"Since both of these organizations share Veishea Service Day's goal of giving back to the campus and community, it made sense to team up with them," said Elyse Harper, student co-chair of Veishea's campus and community involvement committee.

Many of the Service Day projects center around "Stash the Trash," with opportunities to clean up virtually all parks and major intersections and streets in Ames, including the ISU campus.

Veishea's inaugural Service Day was held last spring. It was an extension of Operation Playground, the event's previous service project, in which volunteers built playgrounds in Ames.

"We did Operation Playground for a while, which was a large success, but it got to be so popular we actually had to turn away volunteers," said Magann Orth, student chair of Veishea Service Day. "Veishea wanted to expand so we could match the passion the students and community have for volunteering."

More than 600 people participated citywide in Service Day last year.

"The response from the community was overwhelming, and it made such a large impact," Orth said.

If you want to pitch in on Service Day, go to www.veishea.iastate.edu. Scroll to the Service Day section and click "Sign up online." Here, you can view a complete list of the service projects, and make your selection(s). Both individuals and groups are welcome to register.

Veishea Service Day

March 29

More information.