Through service, students say thanks to beloved college towns
Student Alex Dilley helps out on Waterville Main Street as part of Colby Cares Day in 2011.
The month of April brings more than just showers. For many students, it’s a time for them to pull up their sleeves, yank on their work boots and give back to their communities.
’Tis the season for volunteering.
As students emerge from their winter blues, a host of universities sponsor a day of service, giving students a chance to say “thank you” to the city that they now call their home.
“There are a lot of students on campus who can’t volunteer on a regular basis because they’re involved with other clubs or sports teams, so this event gives them the opportunity to give back to the community,” said Madison Louis, executive director of the Colby Volunteer Center and a senior at Colby College in Waterville, Maine.
For the past 17 years, Colby Volunteer Center has hosted Colby Cares Day, an event in April that assigns volunteers a task at a local organization, business or home. For a few hours on this day (which is scheduled for April 20 this year), hundreds of students delve into community involvement, whether they are lending a hand on a farm, spending time at an assisted-living home or helping organize a thrift shop. And they love every minute of it.
“One thing that stands as testament to the fact that people love it is that it’s continually our biggest volunteer event of the year, and people come back and do it again and again and again,” said Amanda Lavigueur, associate director of the volunteer center and a senior at Colby.
Taylor Lewis is a Spring 2013 Paste BN Collegiate Correspondent. Learn more about her here.
This story originally appeared on the Paste BN College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.