Students Ready for Day of Service

More than 170 UT students are signed up to help their community through various volunteer efforts as part of the second annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service and Celebration on Monday, Jan. 21.  That number could climb closer to 200, said Angela Lauer, UT’s coordinator of Greek life, community service and peer education.  Last year’s UT contingent included about 150, and more came than had signed up, Lauer said.

Volunteer activities will include building gardens at schools and community centers, neighborhood beautification projects, cleaning off graffiti, removing trash, artistic projects in which youth are writing plays and composing poetry that educates others about Dr. King’s life and teachings, teaching people how to read, befriending the elderly in senior homes, and much more.  

Participants will report to campus at 7 a.m.  After sign-in, meetings and breakfast, volunteers will depart at 8:30 a.m., and arrive at their sites by 9 a.m.  They will work until noon, then return to campus at 12:30 p.m. for lunch and a festival that includes a parade from Blake High to UT’s Pepin/Rood Stadium.

Ronald McDonald House, Alpha House, Tampa United Methodist Centers/ SHARE Florida, Dorcas House Ministries, City of Tampa Parks Department and Salvation Army are among the organizations that volunteers will serve.  One of UT’s group’s will clear invasive plants from Gandy Park.

For more information, contact the Office of Public Information at publicinfo@ut.edu.