On Saturday, approximately 72 N.C. State affiliated organizations gathered in Carmichael Gym to celebrate the beginning of Service Raleigh 2014. Two of those groups were organized by members of the Latino community at N.C. State.
Although it was a cloudy day with a cool, steady drizzle, more than 2000 volunteers coming from different communities in Raleigh were scattered throughout the city to work in various institutions. This year the number of volunteers broke the record number held since 1998, when the program was inaugurated by the N.C. State Student Government and the Park Scholars. Approximately 81 organizations helped make this event possible. Partners such as the YMCA, Adopt a Highway, Raleigh Parks and Recreations and North Carolina Museum of Natural Science contributed to the community on par with the volunteers, according to the Service Raleigh website.
Different organizations within the University created their own teams. While some participants volunteered by picking up trash, building various structures or helping to beautify different parks, others participated in activities with primary schools around Raleigh.
Ashton Dobbins, a freshman in the college of textiles, went to Brentwood Boys and Girls Club for her service activity.
“My job was to help a six-year-old girl with comprehension [of English, her second language] and math, it’s not every day that you can help someone and it was nice to be able to help someone who is in the same position that you were once in,” Dobbins said.
The Multicultural Greek council worked with NCSU Transportation, The Office of Sustainability, University Recreation, Waste Reduction and Recycling. A few members of the group rode bikes while others went on foot around campus. They all picked up trash and categorized it for recycling, compost or landfill. The group was one of several to proactively engage in N.C. State’s commitment to sustainability and environmentally friendly practices.
Community Service Chair for Mi Familia, freshman Cristian Del Valle, created the group “NCSU Estamos para Ayudar” representing a large part of the Hispanic community within the University.
“I think it was great, I enjoyed it a lot and I think the best part of this is that we were helping these organizations. We did something that would have taken three days to work on for only two or three workers,” Del Valle said.
