Service Saturdays are a relatively new addition to the service opportunities that Waynesburg University students have to choose from. Now in their second year of operation, the service opportunity has seen significant growth in student involvement from students now having a consistent option to do their service on weekends.

According to Assistant Dean of Students and Director of the Center for Service Leadership and Bonner Scholars Program Kelley Hardie, balancing classes during the week and doing service was not always an option for students.

“[Service Saturdays] give students the opportunity to participate and volunteer at events that they normally couldn’t do [during] the week because of classes, but still want to volunteer,” said Hardie. “Students have been really receptive to it; all of [the service sites] have been filled each time.”

Junior Youth Ministry major and Bonner Scholar Stephanie Rogers has taken full advantage of the weekend service opportunities.

“I think it is really great to be able to do service every weekend,” said Rogers.

Because Rogers is a Bonner Scholar, she is required to complete a minimum of 140 service hours each semester. One of her favorite sites to volunteer at is “Produce to People.”

“Doing ‘Produce to People’ is a really great service [experience] because we get to see the impact we have on the people in our community around us,” said Rogers. “They are also super nice people; [many of them] were worried about us carrying their groceries for them. They really needed [the groceries] that were being provided.”

“Produce to People” is not the only service location. The next service Saturday will take place Oct. 28 at the Greene County Historical Society for its “Flashlight Fright Night.” The haunted house event at the historical society is one that students could “have a ball being a part of,” according to Rogers.

“I believe everyone should do a Service Saturday. It is not always all work,” said Rogers. “It can be a lot of fun, too. There are lots of different positions to be filled at the Flashlight Fright Night.”

There are still many opportunities for students to get involved in service with Service Saturdays. The Bartlett Homeless Shelter lunch program, A.L.I.V.E. Pittsburgh Living Ministry, Bowlby Library 5K Turkey Trot and the Salvation Army Kettle campaign are among the remaining Service Saturday opportunities for the fall semester.

According to Hardie, there are limited spots for each location, but these limitations are based on availability of transportation and what each volunteer site’s needs are.

In most cases volunteers start their day at 7 a.m. when they meet in the Stover Campus Center before they depart to the service location. According to Rogers, they have usually completely their day by noon.

“It’s nice because we get our volunteer hours, but we also get back to campus in time to relax in the afternoon,” said Rogers.

“Service is in the DNA of Waynesburg University, so this is a great opportunity to fulfill that part of [the mission statement],” said Hardie. “Interested students can sign up on the service tab on myConnect.”