First-Year Students Volunteer at Second Annual New Student Day of Service
First-year students participated in Saint Louis University’s second New Student Day of Service Saturday, Aug. 24. The Billikens volunteered at various locations around the St. Louis region.
Students volunteer at Campus Kitchen. Photo by Garrett Canducci
The day of service reinforces SLU’s Jesuit values and begins students on their path to being men and women for others.
Justin Vilbig, program coordinator at the Center for Service and Community Engagement, was amazed at the help and passion students had during the day.
“Students really like being introduced to service as one of the first things they did on campus. It’s pretty elemental to the SLU experience,” Vilbig said. “The New Student Day of Service sets a framework that the city is accessible and students should take advantage of the opportunities around them.”
The day consisted of a multitude of projects at 70 sites, including recycling, composting and preparing meals. Some were outdoors – beautifying neighborhoods, caring for community gardens and helping older adults with simple yard work. Others were indoors, such as at Campus Kitchen, a national organization founded at SLU in 2001 that has spread to 65 university and high school campuses.