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Students to perform day of volunteer service

March 16, 2010

KALAMAZOO--Whether spring comes in like a lamb or a lion, Western Michigan University students intend to take to the streets from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 27.

The students will be heading into neighborhoods around the Kalamazoo area to help out with worthwhile service projects as part of Spring Into the Streets. SITS matches student organizations with community agencies that need large groups of people for one-day projects.

The 2010 SITS will begin with a kickoff event and volunteer registration at 10:30 a.m. at the Fountain Plaza near Miller Auditorium.

The kickoff will feature remarks by Bobby Hopewell, mayor of Kalamazoo, and Dr. John M. Dunn, president of WMU. The event also will include free food, prizes for volunteers and music provided by WIDR 89.1 FM, WMU's student-run radio station.

"We're expecting a great turnout for the event," says Lindsay Stone, co-public relations coordinator of the SITS organizing committee. "Last year, we had nearly 300 students get out into the community to help out local businesses and organizations."

Participating organizations

Area organizations requesting volunteers this year, and the projects volunteers will assist with, include:

• Edison Neighborhood Association--neighborhood cleanup in partnership with Edison residents to pick up trash around streets and remove graffiti
• Girl Scouts of America--clerical work
• Habitat for Humanity--assisting with building Habitat homes and working in the Habitat ReStore
• Kalamazoo Gospel Mission--kitchen and related work
• Oakwood Neighborhood Association--spring yard work for seniors and disabled residents
• Poverty Reduction Initiative--assembling materials for the Poverty Simulation Workshop, a role-playing experience that simulates a month in the life of someone living in poverty, and assisting with promoting Project Connect, an event that brings free services to low-income Kalamazoo county residents and their families
• Vine Street Neighborhood Association--light landscaping and outdoor cleanup
• YMCA of Kalamazoo--indoor and outdoor spring cleaning

SITS is both a WMU community service initiative and a registered student organization. It is an opportunity for students to give back to the local community as well as to the University, and is designed to encourage active volunteerism among college students.

"The SITS Committee really wants to get the students more involved, not just on campus, but also in the community," says organizing committee co-chair Jackie Luedtke. "We want to encourage the idea of service learning, where students take more out of this experience than just a few hours of volunteering. We want to encourage a positive and proactive change in our community."

SITS is a collaboration of the Western Student Association and WMU's Student Activities and Leadership Programs office. Many of the University's fraternities and sororities take part in the day, along with a wide range of other student organizations and individual students.

For more information about Spring Into the Streets, visit wmich.edu/volunteer or contact SITS committee co-chairs Stacey Nordstrand or Jackie Luedtke at salp-intothestreets@wmich.edu or (269) 387-2115.

Media contact: Jeanne Baron, (269) 387-8400, jeanne.baron@wmich.edu

WMU News
Office of University Relations
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5433 USA
(269) 387-8400
www.wmich.edu/news