Last week, from April 9-13, Adrian College students participated in Community Outreach Week (C.O.W.).
“It’s an event where we get students involved to help around the community,” said senior Heather Muylle.
Muylle is currently interning for the student activities office, and one of her responsibilities was to organize C.O.W.
“I personally think it’s a good thing to have on campus, because it gets students involved and brings more awareness of what’s happening in the community,” Muylle said.
Muylle got in touch with the presidents of the various student organizations on campus to see who was interested in participating in C.O.W.
“A lot of students contacted me,” Muylle said. “There were about 70 students [who participated].”
There were four different locations that students were able to volunteer for the week including the Humane Society, the Hope Center, the Salvation Army, and the YMCA.
Volunteers got to pick which one of the four locations that they wanted to work for.
Junior Clara Bauman, the president of People Against Animal Cruelty (PAAC), chose to volunteer at the Humane Society and encouraged her club members to volunteer as well.
“I got the C.O.W. list by email because I was the president,” Bauman said. “The Humane Society was on there, and I thought, by golly it’s time to go there.”
Bauman, along with fellow PAAC member junior Chelsea Howe, volunteered at the Humane Society last Thursday and Friday.
“The first day, we grabbed two dogs at a time and took them for walks,” said Bauman. “The second day we combed cats.”
The pair of PAAC members performed other tasks for the animal shelter as well.
“It was cool,” Bauman said about the volunteer experience. “They needed help with walking and playing with animals, which is what we like to do anyways.”
President of the Art Club, Shannon Kynion, also encouraged the members of her organization to volunteer. She chose the Salvation Army thrift store as their destination for volunteering.
“I liked their mission statement and what they’re all about,” Kynion said. “I thought it was good.”
Kynion, along with some other Art Club members, helped organize the store and hang up clothes. Kynion found the store employees to be very nice and welcoming to volunteers.
“They wanted us to come back,” she said.
According to Kynion, oftentimes college students get a bad reputation for not wanting to get involved within the community.
“It’s important to show people that we do want to get involved,” she said. “It’s important to give back. We are a part of this community.”
Kynion also said that she really appreciates the purpose of C.O.W.
“I think that it is a great idea, and I think they should continue it and maybe it’s even something we should do a couple times a year,” she said. “It reminds people we should be involved in the community.”
Recent Comments