The award-winning "Time to Serve" program at Hope College will continue for a third year on Saturday, Aug. 31, with members of the college's newest class participating in service projects throughout the area.
The award-winning "Time to Serve" program at Hope College will continue for a third year on Saturday, Aug. 31, with members of the college's newest class participating in service projects throughout the area.
Some 400 Hope students, most of them members of the newly arrived freshman Class of 2006, will participate in the college's third annual "Time to Serve" volunteer program. They signed up for the mass volunteer effort on Saturday, Aug. 24, only a day after arriving on campus for "New Student Orientation" at Hope.
"'Time to Serve' has proven to be a great way for our students to learn about service, get to know about their community and get to know each other all at the same time," said Diana Breclaw, who is director of student activities and staff coordinator of the program. "We're really pleased with the students' interest in participating, and in the willingness of community groups to work with us in providing opportunities for service."
The project began in the fall of 2000 with 10 projects and about 100 participants, and grew to 24 projects and approximately 300 students in 2001. In October of last year, "Time to Serve" 2000 received a 2001 Distinguished Service Award from Keep Michigan Beautiful Inc. during the group's Annual Conference.
This year, the students will be working in groups of eight to 12 at one of 40 sites from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Projects will range from trail maintenance at the DeGraaf Nature Center, to sorting clothing at Holland Rescue Mission, to building four homes with Habitat for Humanity, to cleaning the beach at Dunton Park.