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Service sites available, encouraged for students

By Olivia Latimer news Editor 4 min read

Waynesburg University has been a long-time supporter of its mission statement of faith, learning and service.

The students of Waynesburg University graduate with a deep understanding of the meaning of service. Students thrive off of service not only on faith, learning and service trips to other states and even internationally, but through local service opportunities as well. The university makes sure these opportunities are available and bountiful.

Some of the organizations through which Waynesburg University has relationships with to serve locally and as near as Pittsburgh include World Vision, Produce to People and the Pittsburgh Project.

“Waynesburg University has had a long-standing partnership with each of these organizations,” said Kelley Hardie, assistant dean of student services, who coordinates trips with the Pittsburgh Project and other local serving sites.

According to Hardie, for students to become involved in these trips, it’s as easy as going to the new service tab on myConnect and selecting the site they wish to volunteer at.

Hardie said there are multiple opportunities to experience each of these service opportunities.

Hardie said next semester, the Pittsburgh project will be offered twice, once as a weekend trip, costing $40 per student, and one day trip, costing $10 per student. In addition, Adrienne Tharp, coordinator of the Bonner Scholar Program, leads a weeklong trip just for Bonner Scholar students over spring break.

“The Pittsburgh Project offers a variety of ways for students to become involved,” said Hardie. “You could be doing home repairs, tutoring or renovating buildings. It’s a great program that aims to assist needy individuals in the Pittsburgh area.”

Hardie said Produce to People is offered through the university twice each month, once in Pittsburgh and once at the local location at the Greene County fairgrounds.

“Produce to People is an organization that provides fresh foods, usually foods that are more expensive, for those that financially qualify,” said Hardie.

During Produce to People workdays, volunteers assist in unloading trucks of food from the food bank as well as distributing it out to families who attend.

World Vision workdays are offered once a month and are located in Pittsburgh.

According to Tharp, World Vision workdays include volunteers sorting through goods such as clothing, shoes, healthcare items and more. Volunteers organize these and box them up to be shipped out to other countries.

Caley Blankenbuehler, junior mathematics/secondary education major and Bonner scholar, added that World Vision workdays are fun service opportunities for students to experience.

According to Hardie, World Vision and Produce to People workdays are free for students to attend. The university offers transportation to each of these service sites excluding the local Produce to People location.

“We only have a certain amount of vehicle space so we try to limit to one or two vans,” said Hardie. “We usually take about 12 students and we always fill up. Each of these service sites all have waiting lists on the myConnect tab.”

Hardie also mentioned that most times, the service sites themselves require only so many volunteers to come, due to the fact that they have many volunteers coming from all over. For this reason and the vehicle space, each service site has a limit on the number of attendees.

Hardie said students usually show enthusiasm for the workdays.

“The students typically enjoy the service opportunities we provide,” said Hardie. “We try to offer a variety so they can choose local or father locations. We get a lot of repeat volunteers. There are a number of freshmen who are really getting into volunteering this year, it seems.”

Hardie also believes it is important for students to become involved in local opportunities like these.

“It’s very important to participate in some form of local service. It lets you get to know the area and the individuals in it,” said Hardie. “For example, the Green County Immersion service project exposes students beyond that white picket fence around Waynesburg University. It gives you a chance to work with these organizations. Our goal is to get students to fall in love with an organization’s mission and the service sites and then go back there over and over for however many years they have left at Waynesburg. You never know what you will be passionate about until you try it.”

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