Volunteers put 1,504 hours into service day

May 2, 2017

Classes were canceled April 26 for Dakota State University’s second annual Day of Service, but there was still education taking place.

At the event welcome and send-off, President José-Marie Griffiths gave the 433 volunteers a lesson in Latin, teaching them a quote from Roman philosopher Cicero, “Non nobis solum nati sumus,” which means “Not for ourselves alone are we born.”

With that in mind, the students, faculty and staff braved the 30-degree temperatures and went out into the community to tackle a variety of jobs. College of education majors helped at area schools with animation demonstrations or reading to students. Other volunteers sorted items at the Encore Store and St. John’s Clothing Closet. Many took on spring cleaning jobs, at Graceland Cemetery, highway road ditches, area parks, and organizations such as Bethel Lutheran Homes, Valiant Living and Camp Lakodia. Still others tied blankets for Madison Regional Health System, painted at the Greater Madison Area Chamber of Commerce, and removed a mural at the Madison Public Library. 

In total, the 433 volunteers put in 1,504 hours of volunteer time, not including the 200 hours put in by the 20-member planning committee prior to the day. This exceeded the committee’s goal of 1,500 hours, said Mandy Parpart, director of student activities.  In 2016, volunteers put in 1,100 hours of volunteer service.