500 Arcadia Students Participate in 25th Annual Day of Service

By Caitlin Burns | August 30, 2016

(Left to right) Alyson Nagel, Brenda Montecius, and Mikayla Walls volunteer at Face to Face Germantown for the Day of Service.

Local and regional organizations welcomed more than 500 first-year and new transfer students for Arcadia University’s 25th annual Day of Service on Monday, Aug. 29, during Fall Orientation.

With 22 locations throughout Philadelphia, Montgomery, and Bucks counties, students painted classrooms at local schools, made pet toys at the PSPCA, assisted in the kitchens of shelters, and cleaned regional parks.

“This is a great opportunity to get involved in the area,” said Megan Hupp ’20, who painted classrooms at New Life Nursery School in Glenside, adding that the Day of Service helped her to learn areas around campus. “I also want to be a preschool teacher, so seeing how an English as a Second Language classroom is set up is beneficial.”

For the first time, students volunteered at Face to Face in Germantown, which provides services to struggling families and homeless individuals, and Carson Valley Children’s Aid, an organization that helps children and youth who have suffered trauma.

“We rely on volunteers, since this is such a big operation,” said Face to Face chef Altenor Vaval, who noted that Face to Face serves about 300 people a day. “It takes at least 20 people on-site to run this place.”

Mikayla Walls ’20 said she was happy to volunteer at Face to Face, since she often helps at another soup kitchen in Philadelphia. Walls worked with several other students to chop vegetables in the kitchen, which would be used at lunch or preserved for winter soups.

“It’s fulfilling,” Walls said. “I really like helping people.”