Several hundred Fredonia students, faculty and staff will “roll up their sleeves” for the annual Days of Service, a week devoted to community service endeavors that combine volunteer service and service-learning projects to help the campus community engage with and improve the village and other surrounding areas.
Beginning Saturday, Nov. 7, and continuing through Thursday, Nov. 12, students, faculty and staff will be out in force. Raking leaves, mulching tree limbs, painting, cleaning, serving meals, removing waste, collecting nonperishable food for local pantries, and assisting local youth and senior citizens are among the extensive array of volunteer opportunities that they will pursue in this campus tradition.
Major initiatives during the week include the Operation Breakfast Rescue food drive and the annual Fall Sweep, now in its 11th year, in which volunteers venture into the surrounding community to rake leaves for residents. On Nov. 12, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., breakfast items including cereal, pancake mix, oatmeal, baby formula, Cream of Wheat, breakfast bars, canned fruit, coffee and other shelf-stable breakfast items can be dropped off at Williams Center Room G103A, and all day at Reed Library Nov. 10 and 11. Donations will be forwarded to the Chautauqua County Rural Ministry for distribution.
There are also other projects, such as donating blood and contributing food, for volunteers unable to participate in major projects that help those in need.
Days of Service, now in its fourth year, is organized by the Office of Volunteer and Community Service, and is chaired by Joyce Harvard Smith, coordinator of Volunteer and Community Services, with assistance from Marie Scime, a student intern.
