SWU Serves
SWU students Adrian Campbell, left, and Keonna Palmer, right, assist in food distribution at Gleaning House Ministries in Pickens. Approximately 200 volunteers, including students, faculty and staff, went to a dozen sites across Pickens, Oconee and Greenville counties for the second annual Day of Service March 18.
University students, faculty, staff roll up sleeves for Day of Service
For the second year in a row, Southern Wesleyan University students took a day off from classes – to pursue an important assignment.
Some students handled the logistics of organizing a food pantry, while others cleared mountain trails of limbs and brush left over from winter storms. Others mopped, scrubbed, or did a bit of carpentry work. A group of cast members from “Narnia,” this year’s student production, performed for youngsters at The Growing Place and Central Elementary School.
Organized by Southern Wesleyan’s Student Life office, Day of Service involved 174 students and 24 faculty and staff members in projects where they could make a difference in the surrounding community.
“The purpose of the Day of Service is to not only give back to the community, but to open our students to a wide variety of service choices and to allow them to choose projects of interest to them,” said Justin Carter, associate vice president for Student Life at Southern Wesleyan.
Esther Corn, administrator at Gleaning House Ministries in Pickens, was pleased to see the group of students led by Southern Wesleyan Psychology Professor Mildred Williams as they handed out food items to needy citizens trying to put food on their table.
“It means that we’re able to do a few other things that can’t possibly get done just by ourselves. We’re able to pack extra boxes. We’ll be able to get some stuff put up that normally can’t get put up,” Corn said.
“We believe in servant leadership – it’s what Christ did – taking care of broken people,” Williams said.
“I’m helping people who are maybe less fortunate than I am. It’s just a blessing to be able to help and just to see people smile,” said Zakiyyah Galloway, a junior social sciences major from Anderson who helped out at Gleaning House.
“We fed like 200 families – boy, I feel good about myself,” said Dwayne Bryant, a sophomore from Perry, Ga., who went to 5 Point Food Pantry in Anderson.
“As Christians, we should model Christ and be committed to serving others,” Carter said. “In doing so, I believe they will discover that service can be fun and enriching and I hope a positive outcome is that they will develop a heart for service.”
Project locations included Our Daily Bread, Seneca; Potter’s Place, Central; Gleaning House Ministries, Pickens; Golden Corner Ministries, Seneca; Golden Harvest Food Bank, Liberty; Table Rock Wesleyan Camp in northern Pickens County; segments of the Foothills Trail; meeting facilities for the “Hundred Acre Wood,” located on the university’s Central Campus; Asbury Hills Camp and Retreat Center, Cleveland; South Main Crisis Center, Anderson; and 5 Point Food Pantry, also in Anderson.
Several other student projects have been taking place throughout the spring semester.
To see students in action during Day of Service, search for #swuserves in Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
Southern Wesleyan University is a Christ-centered, student-focused learning community devoted to transforming lives by challenging students to be dedicated scholars and servant-leaders who impact the world for Christ.