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Volunteer Week April 22-27
The inaugural Volunteer Week at Western
is scheduled for Monday, April 22 through Saturday, April 27.
Registration for service events, educational programs, blood
donation and an Adopt-a-Pet program will run through Friday,
April 19 in the Union Concourse. Volunteer Week will focus
on connecting the WIU campus to the Macomb community and celebrating
the spirit of volunteerism, according to Stephen Bauer, graduate
assistant adviser for volunteer services in the Office of Student
Activities. Themes and activities scheduled for each day include
the following:
Earth Day Monday, April 22 will feature
a campus cleanup from 10 a.m. to noon; beautification activities
at McDonough District Hospital from noon to 2 p.m.; and
landscaping maintenance work at Macomb Park District from 3
to 5 p.m. Environmental awareness is the topic for the 6:30
p.m. educational program in the Union Board Room.
Monday, April 22 also kicks off a
four-day program about poverty. Jason Ritter, assistant
complex director for Higgins Hall, and Derek Bremer, resident
assistant in Higgins Hall, will camp in the mall area north of
the Union and live off of only what people donate to them to simulate
homelessness. They will talk about their experiences in a Thursday
night program.
Health Day Tuesday, April 23 will
include a Red Cross blood drive in the Union; blood typing by
the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center from 9 to 4 p.m.
in the Union; bingo with elderly patients at McDonough District
Hospital from 12:30 to 2 p.m.; and volunteer work with
clients at Bridgeway from 1 to 3 p.m. Educational programming
scheduled for the Union Board Room includes meningitis information
by Beu Health Center staff at 6 p.m.; the history of the
Red Cross by Jan Kinmin of the McDonough County chapter at 7
p.m.; and information about blood donation and usage by the
Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center at 8 p.m.
Service-learning Day Wednesday, April
24 will highlight the academic initiative which incorporates
community service into classroom curriculum. Gordon Rands,
an associate professor of management and member of WIU's Volunteer
Services Universities Service-Learning Committee, will speak about
service-learning and environmental studies from 3 to 4:30 p.m.
in the Union Cardinal Oak Rooms.
Social Issues Day Thursday, April 25
will begin with a 9 to 11 a.m. volunteer project at the
Western Illinois Regional Center Clothing Shop, in conjunction
with Western's Social Work Student Association. Programs include
a 6 to 8 p.m. panel discussion on religion in Morgan Hall
109, and a 7 p.m. presentation in the Union Fox Room on
"Homelessness and its Effects" by "mall sleepers"
Ritter and Bremer, along with Shelly Hopper and students who volunteered
in a homeless shelter on the Alternative Spring Break. Also, donations
of supplies and toys for the Adopt-a-Pet program, which will benefit
animals in the Macomb Animal Shelter and the Humane Society of
Macomb, must be turned in to the WIU Office of Student Activities
by 5 p.m. Thursday.
Community Day Friday, April 26 will
include reading to children at the YMCA Child Care Center from
10 to 11 a.m.; a Wesley Village "Birthdays of the
Month" party from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m; and a Big Brothers/Big
Sisters Game Night from 5 to 7 p.m. A community involvement
program featuring presenters from Macomb Park District, McDonough
County Habitat for Humanity and Macomb Community Unites will begin
at 7:30 p.m. in the Union Fox Room.
Volunteer Week concludes with an all-campus
service day Saturday, April 27. Students may sign up at
12:30 p.m. in the Union Cardinal Oak Rooms to participate
in a variety of service opportunities from 1 to 3 p.m.
A thank-you party for all of the week's volunteers will follow
at 3 p.m. in the Cardinal Oak Rooms.
For more information, contact Bauer
or Mary Kubasak at 298-3232 or e-mail VolunteerWeek2002@yahoo.com.
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