October's Service Project Stays Close to Home

The October service project, which took place on Saturday the 19th 2009, turned out to be a successful part of EC’s Family Weekend. The 27 students who signed up for this project didn’t have to travel far to volunteer at St. Mary’s Cemetery which is located across the street from Langhorst Field and West Hall. The helpful crew of students spent four hours getting the cemetery ready for the upcoming winter months.

Usually this clean-up process is handled by Colleen McEvoy who started caring for the cemetery because sister is buried there. However, in recent months this task has become more difficult to complete on her own, so student volunteers helped to spruce up the Cemetery by raking, weeding and cleaning up the grounds.

The work was a bit difficult, and the site was not necessarily the most uplifting, but many students felt rewarded in knowing that by donating just a few hours of their time they not only saved Colleen McEvoy days worth of work, but also helped the community by helping maintain the cemetery. Keep an eye out for service opportunities in the future, as Elmhurst College and the Office of Leadership, Service and Engagement will continue to plan service trips to help McEvoy care for the cemetery.

Kicking Off the New Year with a New Fair

Twenty Elmhurst College students helped volunteer at the first Annual Cantigny Green Fair that was held on Saturday, September 26 at Cantigny Park in Wheaton. The fair was sponsored by Cantigny Park, part of the McCormick Foundation, and SCARCE, an organization dedicated to educating and inspiring people about Eco-friendliness. The Fair was designed to celebrate Eco-friendly practices as well as to educate the community and local businesses on how we can continue to think green.

The 20 Elmhurst College students who volunteered their time for this fair were asked to help handle the assortment of e-trash (electronics like DVD players, radios, computers, etc.) that had been donated to be recycled as a part of the Fair’s Recycling Extravaganza. The Extravaganza was held to help keep useful or recyclable items out of landfills. The Extravaganza not only sorted through electronics, but also took vinyl records, inkjet cartridges, water filters, scrap metal and old or damaged American flags so they could be properly retired.

The students helped load the donations onto a converted flatbed, then sort through the various types of equipment. Although the work was not necessarily exciting, Junior Leif Mueller says “the experience was great… it was something worth doing on a Saturday afternoon”. It was great for the fair as well, because as the student volunteers were handling the trash donations, other volunteers were able to help run the “FashionEcoNista” Show, the organic and local Farmers Market and several Eco-activities for kids.

The Green Fair turned out to be a big success, with over seventy five vendors and even more volunteers helping to bring education and insight to the community about thinking green and creating sustainable communities. Hopefully even more students will be able to volunteer next year to continue this new tradition at Cantigny Park!



For more information about Cantigny Park please visit http://www.cantigny.org/
For more information about the McCormick Foundation please visit http://www.mccormickfoundation.org/
For more information about SCARCE please visit http://www.bookrescue.org/

A new year, a new schedule!

We've got a lot of great service projects planned for the 2008-2009 school year. Details about each unique site will be added as the project approaches; however, websites have been included so you can learn more about the great work of the organizations. Don't forget to save the following dates!

• Saturday, September 13th - Aspire (limit: 15 people)
  9:00 am - 1:00 pm
  

• Saturday, October 18th - Blue Jays Care Service Project - Northern Illinois Food Bank (limit: 60 people, age: 14 and over)
  8:00 am - 12:00 pm
  

• Saturday, November 15th - Family Weekend Service Project - TBA

• Saturday, February 14th - Feed My Starving Children
  1:00 pm - 5:00 pm

• Saturday, March 14th - TBA

• Saturday, April 18th - TBA

A light breakfast, snack, OR lunch will be provided for each project. Transportation and any needed supplies will also be supplied.

Beginning with the September MSP, we will require each participant to complete a liability waiver with insurance information prior to the project. Please stop by room 240 of the Frick Center to pick one up. You can also call Laura Wilmarth Tyna, Director of Leadership and Civic Engagement, at (630) 617-3687 for more information.

Service at We Grow Dreams

We Grow Dreams Greenhouse and Garden Center is a not-for-profit organization that was created to provide job training and work opportunities to individuals with developmental disabilities. They invite individuals to become team members, contributing to the success of the "business" in many ways.

Despite the cold, wet weather, we had a great service project with We Grow Dreams on Saturday, April 12th. What a great group for sticking it out! While we were there, the group helped with some outdoor clean-up and preparation of the indoor retail area.

Since We Grow Dreams was started a little over 3 years ago, they've taken steps to improve their facility each year; however, it has been a big job. It was great that our group could help them move towards their goals. They are always looking for individuals or groups interested in helping them make progress, so hopefully others will jump on board to work with this great organization!

For more information about We Grow Dreams, click on the link: http://www.wegrowdreams.org. To see all of the pictures from the day, click on the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/laura.wilmarth/AprilMonthlyServiceProject

April Monthly Service Project

Sign up today to participate in the April Monthly Service Project!

Due to a conflict with the originally scheduled community organization, the group will be working with We Grow Dreams (http://www.wegrowdreams.org/). This unique organization provides job training and employment for individuals with disabilities. Participants will help in the greenhouse, as We Grow Dreams prepares for the growing and selling season.

What: April Monthly Service Project
When: Saturday, April 12th 9:00 am until 1:30 pm
Where: We Grow Dreams (located in West Chicago)

Transportation, a light breakfast, and lunch will be provided. Contact Laura Wilmarth Tyna at wilmarthtynal@elmhurst.edu, (630) 617-3687, or room 240 Frick Center to sign up!

Help at the Shamrock Shuffle!

Elmhurst College was recently contacted regarding an Elmhurst contingent for the first water stop of the Shamrock Shuffle on Sunday, March 30. For those organizations/clubs looking for service hours, this is a great way to give back to the community while having a great time.

Here are the details:

Event: 2008 Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle

Date: Sunday, March 30, 2008

Location: First Water Station on State Street from Washington to Adams

Carpool: Yes, from Bryan Middle School in Elmhurst at 6:15 a.m.

Volunteer Check in Downtown: 7:30 a.m. (race starts at 9:30 a.m.)

Job Description: Position tables. Fill cups with Hinckley Springs Water and Gatorade. Stack cups and distribute to runners. Rake and bag used cups. Volunteers Needed: 125-150+

Perks: Great t-shirt and even better time with friends.

All are welcome so invite your family, friends and neighbors. Mark Robinson will be coordinating the pre-race day volunteers so please R.S.V.P. to him with your preferred shirt size ASAP. He can be reached at:

Mark Robinson

mcr1124@comcast.net

708-395-5959

You can also sign up in person at Dick Pond Athletics at 124 N. York St. in Elmhurst during normal business hours or contact Bob Richards, race day coordinator, at bobnanrun@sbcglobal.net

Service at Greencastle of Elmhurst

On Saturday, March 8th 13 EC students and staff, along with 5 friends from the Saint Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church, spent time at Greencastle of Elmhurst. This independent living community for older adults is only 1 mile from the College and boasts a number of wonderful residents.

About 15 Greencastle residents came out to spend time with the group. People played Bingo!, decorated pots for seed planting, baked and decorated sugar cookies, and played a couple of mean hands of Uno. All-in-all, it was a great visit. Here are a few photos of the day (above: EC and SVF group; right: Audrey, Sarah, and Allison with a friendly Greencastle resident; left: Andrea and Audrey with a woman who just turned 100!). To see more photos, click on the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/laura.wilmarth/MarchMonthlyServiceProject

Thanks to all of the folks who made this fun day possible!