An inner-city mother in Detroit struggles to feed her family.† An old lady in Atlanta struggles to walk out the door for a bit of food.† These stories represent the real life struggles thousands of Americans face every day.† It may be common knowledge to most, but many Americans who have the resources to help the situation seem not to have the time to fix it; some do not even know where to start. This is what the Scots in Service Program ó The College of Wooster’s national day of Service ó hopes to help alleviate, albeit for only a day.
Of course, this general definition does not describe the program in full as there is much more to this story. Though it is affiliated with the College, there are more people involved than simply current students or alumni.† Parents, friends, even children will also do their part to help.† They will do everything from working at homeless shelters, to cleaning up parks or even winterizing buildings, non-profit nature centers and elementary schools.
But how does such a vast program function, especially when there are so many projects throughout the country, and how did it even get started?† In 2000, Wooster’s Alumni Board began working on the idea of a national volunteer day. ìIt seemed like a natural progression,” said Sharon Rice, the Assistant Director of Alumni relations, ìWooster students are so involved in community service, and many of our alumni are in ëserviceí professions.” They hoped to accomplish four things through the program ó to get people connected with Wooster through socializing, provide valuable services in communities across the country, to encourage Wooster alumni to get more involved in their local communities and to provide leadership opportunities for students who wish to get more involved in the College.† In 2001, they did just that, with alumni leading projects in nine different cities.
Today, it has grown to over 28 locations across the country, from Cleveland to Tampa.
This yearís newest cities include Toledo, where volunteers will serve meals at Cherry Street Mission Ministries Good Samaritan Outreach Center while providing donations of food, clothing and household items, as well as Tampa, where they will refurbish boardwalks and remove non-native species from the Museum of Science and Industry.