Hillsdale students, alumni, and local families will serve the community this Saturday, April 1, for the 4th annual Day of Service.  

 The 1844 Society and GOAL office partner to plan the annual event. Anyone interested can sign up with a team or independently through a Google sheet link in the GOAL newsletter. Volunteers will work on various service projects from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

“The teams disperse and go to assigned projects, which range from cleaning up elderly people’s yards to doing a volleyball clinic with kids in the community,” senior and student director of GOAL Lucy Cuneo said.

After their work, all volunteers will meet in the Searle Center for lunch and live music.

“You’ll work on a project for about an hour and a half, then we’re having a big old celebratory pizza lunch in the Searle Center,” Cuneo said. 

The 1844 Society’s involvement in Day of Service is recent, according to Braden VanDyke, assistant director of student and young alumni programs and 1844 Society’s staff adviser.

“This is only the second year the 1844 Society and Alumni Office have partnered with the GOAL office for the annual Day of Service,” VanDyke said. 

Both VanDyke and Cuneo hope to keep expanding the event. 

“We’re hoping to grow Day of Service from 350 volunteers to 500 volunteers,” Cuneo said. “Almost every dorm is participating, as well as the Greek houses and off-campus houses.” 

VanDyke said he wants to bring in more non-students as well. 

“Last year we had just a handful of local alumni, and this year we’re hosting a slightly larger group,” VanDyke said. “We’re also excited to emphasize it as a family event. We have families with middle school and high school students and even participants as young as 6 years old.” 

Cuneo said she sees the Day of Service as a benefit for students. 

“As poor college students, we don’t have a lot of money, but what we do have is time,” Cuneo said. 

Cuneo said Day of Service not only serves the community but may also form connections for the students.

“There can often be a difference between a proverbial ‘town and gown,’ and I think this is one of the best ways to bridge that gap and also learn more about other GOAL programs,” Cuneo said. “You might learn about how you can serve Domestic Harmony as you’re assembling gifts, or you might make new friends through the community sports volleyball clinic.” 

Students can sign up all week, including the day of, and will be assigned to one of the already registered teams. 

“A lot of the projects are outside and we don’t know what the weather will be like, so bring a warm jacket, a hat, gloves, and a good attitude,” Cuneo said.