As a way of giving back to the town that shares its name with the College, students performed community service at organizations including the Salvation Army, the YWCA, Water Watch, Belchertown Conservation Committee and several elementary schools.
Adrienne Showler '05 worked at The Anchor House of Artists, which gives artists with psychiatric problems a place to display their art. "It's a really unique program. It was
great to contribute to it," said Showler.
The Outreach Council, a student organization composed of leaders and representatives from campus organizations that involve community service, began planning the first Day of Service in the spring of 2001. The event took place in the fall of 2002 and its success led to this year's repeat.
Individual students, groups of friends, dormitory groups and clubs joined together to participate in the event.
Resident Counselor (RC) Christina Clemente '06 organized a group of her residents to participate. "As an RC, I try to get my residents involved in the Day of Service by promoting it as both a day to help those in need and a chance to bond with other members of their dorm," she said.
Director of Community Outreach Scott Laidlaw hopes that this Day of Service is one of many opportunities for students to get involved in the community.
"In the future, we hope to continue this day of service. Hopefully, students will see it as a first step to becoming involved with community service and with the Outreach program, which can serve as a conduit to many organizations in the community," said Laidlaw.
Some students said that they felt that by helping other, they had helped themselves. "It was nice to see how we helped. It was good to see the changes we had made for a really worthy cause," said Amy Armstrong '07 of her work at The Anchor House.
According to Matt Souza, a staff-member of Massachusetts Community Water Watch and campus organizer for the Day of Service, 33 Day of Service participants joined together to help clean up the Connecticut River.
"The Day of Service is an excellent opportunity for the community to get together and act like a community, helping each other out," Souza said. "Volunteer work is a very rewarding experience as it is a concrete productive interaction between yourself and other people or situations that beforehand may have only been abstract to you."
Souza noted that the river clean-up is important because it draws attention to the poor conditions of Massachusetts' waterways. According to Souza, the waterways in Massachusetts are of the second worst water quality in the country, second only to New Jersey.
The Day of Service began with a lunch for participants and ended with a dinner banquet.