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The weatherman will be smiling down Saturday on the record number of University of Idaho students signed up to participate in the ASUI Center for Volunteerism and Social Action’s annual Saturday of Service. With forecasts for sunshine and a high of 67 degrees, 450 UI students will cover the Palouse with one mission: to serve the community.
ASUI’s Days of Service Intern Mallory Nelson is thrilled at the turnout the event has had this year. She said previous years have averaged 150-200 volunteers.
“It’s really really cool that we have so many people participating this year,” Nelson said.
The Days of Service program was launched in 2000 and events are held twice a year, Make a Difference Day in the fall and the spring Saturday of Service.
Nelson contributes the turnout to increased advertising and recruitment efforts. Each site leader was encouraged to find volunteers for the project and Nelson visited with living groups to encourage students to participate.
The volunteers will be tackling about 30 projects in Moscow, Lewiston and Pullman. A group in Lewiston will be finishing up a Habitat for Humanity house. Other groups will work with local schools, nursing homes, food banks and the Palouse Discovery Center.
The Palouse-Clearwater Enviornmental Institute is one of the organizations hosting volunteers this year. Originally, PCEI was scheduled to take about 60 students for projects. Now it is hosting around 120 students who will work on four projects.
PCEI Volunteer Coordinator Courtney Rush is thrilled about the increased participation this year. She credits the interest to increased involvement in the community and concerns about the environment.
“I think that service learning is becoming a larger part of the university. Students are more aware of community needs,” Rush said. “Students are especially interested in getting outside and helping the environment because of the huge buzz dealing with global warming. Students realize that they are the prime population to make decisions about the future of our Earth.”
PCEI is working to prepare its seven and a half acre Rodeo Campus for the influx of volunteers. The organization has a 13 person staff, seven of whom are full time AmeriCorp members. Annually, the group hosts about
1,500 volunteers.
On Saturday, UI students will be working on the south fork of the Palouse River removing invasive weeds, cleaning up the creek and straightening plant protectors, Rush said. Other groups will work on PCEI’s campus preparing its learning nursery for spring sales, which includes organizing 12,000 potted plants.
“It’s going to look like a beehive,” Rush said.
Other groups will learn how to plant willow tree cuttings, which are used to stabilize stream banks, and do some native landscaping on the campus.
The Center for Volunteerism has been planning the event for about three months, but it was unprepared for the number of students who signed up, Nelson said. She had to find extra projects for the 150 students she didn’t expect. Students can still sign up for the day, Nelson said, but she is worried about not having enough work for people.
“I don’t want to turn anybody away, either,” she said.
Registration for the day begins at 8 a.m. Saturday in the SUB Ballroom. Work will begin at 9 a.m. and runs until noon. Students will be given breakfast and the first 300 volunteers will get a T-shirt. Students will also receive a 20 percent discount at Quiznos or Applebees after the work is finished, Nelson said.
All in all, the event should be a success, she said.
“It does make a huge difference in the community,” Nelson said. “When you add up all the volunteer hours … it makes a huge difference. It really helps out a lot of these nonprofit organizations. You learn more about the community.”
Students who miss out on Saturday’s service opportunities are always welcome at PCEI, Rush said. Interested volunteers can e-mail Rush at
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For more information about Saturday of Service, contact the ASUI Center for Volunteerism and Social Action at 885-9442.
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