Nearly 300 members of the Kennesaw State University campus and surrounding community spent their Saturday morning volunteering as part of the university’s ninth annual Day of Service, visiting 16 work sites across metro Atlanta

The Office of Community Engagement founded the Day of Service in 2014 and in recent years has collaborated with the Department of Student Leadership and Service, pairing more than 1,900 students, faculty and staff with work projects at schools, parks, nonprofit organizations and other community sites.

Each Day of Service event represents the culmination of a year’s worth of planning by a committee of representatives from throughout the University, co-chaired this year by Kimberly Henghold, director for the Office of Community Engagement, and Ryan Keesee, assistant director of civic engagement for the Department of Student Leadership and Service.

“Day of Service is particularly important this year with the addition of the Community and Culture pillar that has been added to the University’s strategic framework for future growth,” Henghold said. “We want to instill how important it is to be an engaged citizen in your community, especially when you graduate from KSU. We even have alumni come back and volunteer alongside us.”

Volunteer activities this year included sorting and packing books for Books For Africa, sorting and packaging donated goods for families coming out of homelessness at Simple Needs, park beautification at Green Meadows Preserve, and sorting donations at MUST Ministries.

Participants included faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members, including Chris Sharpe, director of access services and librarian associate professor of library science .

“I have been able to do a variety of services such as helping a horse stable that works with children with disabilities, organize donation items for a foster care facility, maintain walking and biking trails, and educate neighborhoods about stormwater management,” Sharpe said. “I love the opportunity to help and learn more about my community.”Volunteering can be rewarding in multiple ways, Henghold said.

“Organic relationships are often built from this experience that has turned into job offers and mentoring opportunities for participants,” she said. “The program has been a rewarding win-win for both KSU and our partners.”