A Day Of Giving Successful
OSU-Okmulgee students served the people of Okmulgee with a myriad of "A Day of Giving" projects last Saturday.
The university's Ethics of Leadership students organized the events, which were coordinated by Engineering Technology student Tim Burns from Jetmore, Kansas. More than 40 other OSU-Okmulgee students helped implement the projects, which included the Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA) Chili Dinner, Humane Society Adopt-A-Thon, Okmulgee Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade of Lights and a hot chocolate fundraiser for the Okmulgee Safehouse.
Markus Baur, Business student from Austria, said, "A student can gain leadership proficiency by organizing this type of event. Working as a volunteer is a very pleasing experience. It comes from the feeling of doing something good. Especially for me it was interesting to meet people from the town and good to know that there is a connection between a college and its town. To see this relationship is very nice."
Students worked at the chili dinner under the supervision of CASA organizer Ann Powders. They helped set up the dining hall, chopped onions, browned chili meat, served people, washed dishes and cleaned up afterwards.
At the Humane Society Adopt-A-Thon volunteers helped care for the pets, which were being promoted for adoption. To their surprise, many of the students adopted dogs or cats themselves that day. Student volunteer Danielle Grant from Preston said she was very pleased that all animals offered for adoption that day found a new home.
The annual Okmulgee Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade of Lights gained extra help this year from the OSU-Okmulgee students. They served as float drivers, traffic controllers, made sure that Santa showed up and tidied up after the event. This project was a favorite of many of the students.
The Okmulgee Safehouse Hot Chocolate Booth was a fundraiser during the parade. OSU-Okmulgee students staffed the booth to keep the hot chocolate flowing. Leadership student Pam Kautz from Beggs had identified this project for student volunteers.
Other leadership students helping to organize the student participation included Matt Cole from Porter; Dalton Hill, Beggs; Steve Titzman, Eufaula; and Mark West of Preston.
A Day of Giving is a regular event under the supervision of OSU-Okmulgee General Education Instructor Kathryn Shurden. "The goal of A Day of Giving is to engage OSU-Okmulgee students in leadership roles in their community and instill in students an appreciation for citizenship duties and responsibilities. Students always accomplish much more than I expect with this event and make such a positive impact on our community."