SFA completes over 85,000 hours of community service
By: Marie Leonard
Issue date: 5/7/09 Section: News
SFA's 85th birthday celebration took place last September with cake and purple ice cream, but the celebration continued throughout the year with an '80s-themed Homecoming and Parents Weekend. The 85th Anniversary Celebration Committee, chaired by Dr. Ron Anderson, wanted to find another meaningful way to celebrate and challenge students, faculty and staff, which is where the idea for the collective 85,000 service hours project was born.
Over the past year, SFA students, faculty and staff have officially participated in more than 85,000 hours of community service, and on Thursday, May 7, these efforts will be recognized by Dr. Baker Pattillo and members of the 85th Anniversary Celebration Committee. Purple ice cream will be handed out in front of Surfin' Steve at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, and students are encouraged to come celebrate with SFA President Pattillo, Dr. Adam Peck, dean of student affairs; Courtney Harvey, SGA president, and various other volunteers.
The organization that completed the most service hours this year was Driving Jacks, with 17,000 recorded hours of service. The student who completed the most service hours this year is Hector Pineda, president of Driving Jacks, with more than 2,400 recorded service hours.
Service hours came from a mix of hundreds of projects created by the volunteers themselves. Blood drives, cleanup after Hurricane Ike and Meals on Wheels are all examples of just a few projects students and faculty participated in this year.
"If the campus had not come together to report their hours, we wouldn't have made our goal," Michael Preston, director of student life, said. "This was a campus-wide effort involving students, faculty and staff." Last year there were 49,000 recorded hours of community service done at SFA-a little more than half of what was accomplished this year. "I was surprised to find out we met the 85,000 hour goal just because it is such a huge number, especially when compared to the 49,000 hours from last year," Preston said.
Although a majority of the service hours came from individual students, The Office of Student Life at SFA promoted "The Big Event," a one-day volunteer event that took place last month where students participated in multiple volunteer projects around SFA and the Nacogdoches community.
"In terms of service hours recorded, this was one of the smaller events, but the concept kept the idea of volunteering in the minds of students and faculty," Preston said.
For more information about Thursday's celebration, call The Office of Student Life at 936-468-1018.
Over the past year, SFA students, faculty and staff have officially participated in more than 85,000 hours of community service, and on Thursday, May 7, these efforts will be recognized by Dr. Baker Pattillo and members of the 85th Anniversary Celebration Committee. Purple ice cream will be handed out in front of Surfin' Steve at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, and students are encouraged to come celebrate with SFA President Pattillo, Dr. Adam Peck, dean of student affairs; Courtney Harvey, SGA president, and various other volunteers.
The organization that completed the most service hours this year was Driving Jacks, with 17,000 recorded hours of service. The student who completed the most service hours this year is Hector Pineda, president of Driving Jacks, with more than 2,400 recorded service hours.
Service hours came from a mix of hundreds of projects created by the volunteers themselves. Blood drives, cleanup after Hurricane Ike and Meals on Wheels are all examples of just a few projects students and faculty participated in this year.
"If the campus had not come together to report their hours, we wouldn't have made our goal," Michael Preston, director of student life, said. "This was a campus-wide effort involving students, faculty and staff." Last year there were 49,000 recorded hours of community service done at SFA-a little more than half of what was accomplished this year. "I was surprised to find out we met the 85,000 hour goal just because it is such a huge number, especially when compared to the 49,000 hours from last year," Preston said.
Although a majority of the service hours came from individual students, The Office of Student Life at SFA promoted "The Big Event," a one-day volunteer event that took place last month where students participated in multiple volunteer projects around SFA and the Nacogdoches community.
"In terms of service hours recorded, this was one of the smaller events, but the concept kept the idea of volunteering in the minds of students and faculty," Preston said.
For more information about Thursday's celebration, call The Office of Student Life at 936-468-1018.
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