Caring about
others has always been a part of life at Mount Mercy, and always
will be. Whatever your gifts, talents and interests are, there
are people who need you to share them. The Office of Volunteerism
and Service Learning helps individuals and
groups connect with agencies in the larger community who need
assistance, and also coordinates a number of campus-wide service
experiences and outreach efforts.
What
are some of the things the Office of Volunteerism and Service
Learning does?
Each year we host Halloween on the Hill for children in the Big
Brothers Big Sisters program and in the residential treatment
program at Tanager Place. We bring together more than 80 elementary
age children (plus some siblings and parents, or “Bigs”)
for a pizza party and Halloween carnival at Hennessey Recreation
Center, followed by trick or treating in the dorms. This event
requires about 80 Mount Mercy volunteers (plus those who stay
home in the residence halls to welcome the trick-ortreaters).
Project America
creates an opportunity for the campus community to reach out to
people in need in the area, especially elderly and handicapped,
for whom we provide a morning of fall clean up work. Student captains
lead teams of five-to-eight for this event. It has proved so popular
we now do one in the spring as well. Smaller groups of volunteers
host visits by the Discoveries Program from Foundation 2. These
teenage girls are mandated by the court to participate in the
12 Well Discoveries Program. The chance to visit campus and interact
with college students gives them insights into positive choices
and alternative possibilities for their lives.
Away from
campus, students are invited to participate in Urban Plunge, a
service learning experience in inner-city Chicago, or Appalachian
Spring, a week-long service experience in rural Kentucky working
with and for low income families on housing repair and rehab.
Who
can be involved?
Anyone! Your religious affiliation does not matter, nor does your
grade point average, age or anything else. Nobody can do everything,
but everybody can do something!
Why
would you want to be involved?
The reasons for service are as varied as the people involved.
The knowledge that most of us are privileged to be reasonably
healthy and intelligent, and come from comfortable homes and families,
makes many of us want to give something back. Nearly everyone
who helps others admits that part of the reason is that it makes
them feel good to know they have done something good. For many,
service is inspired by their faith in a loving God who is Father
to us all.
If you want
to get involved in service of any kind, please contact Susan Davidson,
coordinator of volunteerism and service learning, at 319-363-1323
ext. 1399 or sdavid@mtmercy.edu.
