Celebrating service

More than 1,000 BGSU students, faculty and staff participate in 9th Annual MLK Jr. Day of Service

More than 1,000 Bowling Green State University students, faculty and staff participated in the 2017 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Jan. 16.

The annual community service event began with an opening ceremony, which included a performance by Voices of BG, welcome comments from BGSU Provost Rodney Rogers, a keynote address from Ty Boyd ’09 and a workshop on the legacy of Dr. King led by student leadership assistants from the Center for Leadership.

“I am so very proud to see so many members of the BGSU family participate in this Day of Service,” said Mary Ellen Mazey, BGSU president. “Taking part in these activities teaches compassion and civic responsibility and has an important and lasting impact on our communities.”

Volunteers assisted community partners at 48 sites. Community partners designed service projects for the volunteers to complete as a team. Projects included working alongside Owens Community College students at the Toledo Zoo, installing fire alarms in partnership with American Red Cross, painting bookcases for La Conexion to support childhood literacy, and painting the Lott Industries Shared Lives Studio and Gallery. Participants also designed meal delivery bags for the Wood County Committee on Aging and built and refurbished picnic tables for the Wood County Park District. Other service projects included cleaning, painting, canvassing, organizing files and other office items and sorting donations.

In total, volunteers served more than 2,000 service hours during this year’s Day of Service.

The day concluded with a closing ceremony that included reflection activities for the volunteers and a challenge to commit to deepening and expanding their service and community engagement activities.

This year, BGSU was proud to be a member of the inaugural MLK Jr. Season of Service Consortium of Northwest Ohio. The consortium included Bowling Green State University, Lourdes University, Mercy College, Owens Community College, the University of Toledo and the United Way of Greater Toledo.

This group collaborated to organize MLK Jr.-related events, educational programs, and volunteer activities in the northwest Ohio region. As part of this effort, regional higher education partners sent more than 1,300 student, faculty and staff volunteers to serve at 60 community sites providing needed services and assistance. BGSU played a key leadership role in the group, having the largest and longest running day of service in the region.