"The common denominator of all the groups involved was our mandates … which is service. Each of the groups does a lot of different things, but we all do service and that was really what we felt we could work together on," said Swarthout.
"[The event] was just as successful as we had hoped," said Outreach Assistant Director Tom Lepak, who also serves as an advisor to the Outreach Council. "It was a great event … we did service all afternoon and apparently the kids had a lot of fun."
Twelve of the various service and activist groups associated with the Community Outreach program participated in the event by encouraging their members to volunteer. Sign-up sheets were available in the atrium of Valentine during the past week for other interested students.
"Really the whole thing was student initiated and student organized. It is our hope that the Outreach Council will continue to do this every year. The reaction was so positive that there will be no problem in doing this," said Lepak.
The volunteers gathered in the dining area of Valentine that morning where they ate lunch and were organized into five different groups of various sizes, each of which was sent to a different site in the community.
The five sites were the Amherst Shelter for Adolescents, the Grove Street Inn, the Salvation Army, the Belchertown River and the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.
"Most of the details regarding the sites were organized by MassPIRG," said Swarthout. "Each of the participating groups drew on their resources, and our experience is in working with large service events in the five-college area."
President Tom Gerety spoke to the group just prior to their departure with encouraging words to the participants. He spoke of his own service experiences back in college and thanked the participants for volunteering their time.
Once at the site, student volunteers worked on various projects and activities such as cleaning the Belchertown River and distributing food at the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.
Planning began in April of the 2001-02 school year when "a couple of organizations last year expressed an interest in reviving the Outreach Council and in planning an activity in the fall to get students, especially freshmen, more involved in Outreach organizations," said Swarthout
"We didn't know what to expect when we were planning this day in terms of turnout and participation but to see so many people coming together on a beautiful Saturday morning to help the community, in what little way we can, was amazing," said Chee Yap '05 who organized the event along with Ifeoma Anunkor '04, both of whom are members of the Outreach Council.
"I think without a doubt that all of our sweat and stress was worth it. I'm ecstatic that the first ever Amherst College Day of Service was a big success," said Yap. "I've already gotten some comments and feedback from participants that they would like more Days of Service, both this year and [in] future years."
The Office of the President and the Outreach Office funded the event.