Once every year, 2,000 volunteers gather in the City of Raleigh and work on improving the livelihoods of the surrounding community members.
For the 16 time, Service Raleigh will be celebrated as a day of service in which N.C. State students, along with other members of the community, will volunteer in a variety of different settings on Saturday.
Shelters, elementary schools, parks and museums like the Museum of Natural Sciences, will receive some much-needed help on Saturday, said Nancy Thai, a senior in biological sciences and general co-chair for Service Raleigh.
According to Justin Hills, a junior in biological sciences and co-chair for the public relations committee, “Volunteers will also be working at food shuttles, delivering food, and at the Cameron Village Regional Library, doing things like alphabetizing books. That’s what’s so beautiful about Service Raleigh; it’s a large collection of projects that benefit sectors all over Raleigh.”
In exchange for their service, volunteers will be given breakfast, a t-shirt and the satisfaction received from helping others, Thai said.
Volunteers are placed into groups and assigned to a certain area to work for the day. “We try our best to match people with sites where they can work. For example, if someone notes that they have allergies or cannot complete strenuous labor, we will not place them at a gardening site,” Thai said. Volunteers are not able to pick where they will serve, but they can form a group and choose who they want to work with.
Service Raleigh was created in 1998 by Student Government and Park Scholars and is organized by N.C. State students and their partners. “I personally think that Service Raleigh is a fantastic service opportunity because it benefits the city in a lot of ways. It has a much larger impact as compared to just one project,” Hills said.
Thai has worked with Service Raleigh since she was a freshman, and has enjoyed watching the event grow each year. “Hopefully Service Raleigh can become bigger and more N.C. State students can be inspired,” said Thai.
Thai said she has worked with Service Raleigh for so long because she likes what Service Raleigh can do not only for the community, but also for the students. “I just love Service Raleigh; it is a really easy way for people who have not done much volunteering to get involved at the university and Raleigh community.”
Thai views Service Raleigh as a low commitment opportunity that can serve as a gateway for a lifetime of volunteering. “We hope this one day of service will excite them and motivate them to keep serving the community.”
Even though Service Raleigh is only one day a year, coordinators can help volunteers get in contact with organizations so that they can continue to serve the community throughout the year.
Although all of the volunteer positions for this year’s event have been filled, Hills encourages students who did not register to tag along anyway if they want to help out.
