Students serve in the community

Students serve in the community Screagles make a difference in one-day service project

USI students participated in a joint service day organized by First Year @ USI and student organizations LULA (Love Unites Love Avails) and Eagles in Action on Saturday, September 18 at the Tri-State Food Bank. Coordinated by New Student and Traditional Programs, Service Saturday has been a way for students to give back to the community they'll call home for their college years. John Race, Assistant Director of New Student and Transitional Programs, and Elissa Tam, President of Eagles in Action, coordinated the event after successfully working on another project to make sleeping mats for the homeless by repurposing plastic bags with Aurora, Inc.

At Tri-State Food Bank, students were assigned duties along the conveyor belt, filling boxes of food. Starting at one end, students folded boxes and pushed them through the tape machine on there way to be filled. The food was put in a particular order to make it easier for people to transport home.

The packaged kits will be used for the Tri-State Food Bank's Senior Meals Program during October. The organization supplies food kits to families facing food insecurity, including senior citizens in 33 counties in the Tri-state area.

For some student volunteers, it was their first time working on a fast moving food assembly line.

Volunteers packed boxes full of evaporated milk, spaghetti, chili, elbow macaroni, rice, cereal, canned fruit, tuna, vegetable soup, kidney beans, grits and canned apple and tomato juice.

"I have volunteered at a soup kitchen before, but it was nothing like this. Packing the food boxes was very fast-paced, but I enjoyed it. I heard about this Service Saturday event through one of the USI New Student Newsletters, and I thought it sounded like a great opportunity to help out the community. It was such a rewarding experience, and I can’t wait to participate in more service projects." Megan Miller—freshman

Freshman Megan Miller is studying education.

"Being given the opportunity to volunteer and serve at the Tri-State Food Bank has truly been eye-opening. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes that many people may not be aware of and helping prep the food boxes for people in need was extremely rewarding. I have volunteered at the Tri-State Food Bank on a couple of instances before going with USI, and every single time I have left there, I am filled with joy and excitement to go back again." Allie Rusk—freshman

Freshman Allie Rusk is majoring in accounting.

"I loved helping out the Eagles In Action Club at the Tri-State Food Bank. We were able to package 644 boxes full of food for a large group of seniors, and it was a great experience overall!" Brandon Turner—Senior

Senior Brandon Turner is majoring in biology. He plans to attend dental school.

Students broke down boxes as they worked.

Elissa is a senior biology major. She plans to attend medical school upon graduation.

"What’s amazing is, through the student organization, Eagles in Action, students are empowered to create, design and lead their own service projects. This model is unique because not only are students creating their own opportunities for leadership, but they are also creating opportunities for other students to get involved and invested in their goal. It’s truly something special to see our community foster a strong sense of volunteerism by supporting each other." Elissa Tam—President of Eagles in Action

During previous projects, students have made blankets for the homeless out of plastic grocery bags for Aurora, assisted in the building of Mickey's Kingdom playground along Evansville's riverfront, cleaned facilities and walked dogs for the Posey County Humane Society, and volunteered at the Evansville Red Cross.

Created By

Barbara Goodwin

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Credits:

Barbara J. Goodwin