The BYU Center for Service and Learning prepares to host the annual Community Outreach Day in commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, Jan. 18, 2016.
Registration will be from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. in the BYU Wilkinson Center Ballroom. Doughnuts and juice will be served.
Beginning at 9:30 am, Burgess Owens, a retired NFL Super Bowl champion and Michael Reyneke, an ROTC student, will give a brief devotional about MLK’s dream and desire to serve others.
At 10 a.m., after the presentation, 25-30 service projects will take place on campus and in various locations in Provo and Orem. Vans will be available for transportation. Projects will end at approximately 1 p.m.
Community Outreach Day gives students and the community an easy opportunity to serve on their day off from school and work.
“There have been many times when I wanted to serve but didn’t have the time to plan out a whole project,” said Paige Gifford, a freshman studying recreation management. “Y-Serve is providing students with a variety of service projects, and all they have to do is show up.”
Y-Serve partnered with Utah Valley University and United Way to host the event. Some of the service project organizations include American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, Deseret Industries and South Franklin Community Center.
BYU Multicultural Student Services will host the annual Walk of Life at the Carillon Bell Tower at 5:30 pm in conjunction with the event. Candles will be provided. The Army ROTC will lead participants into the Wilkinson Student Center ballroom where Winston Wilkinson will give a keynote speech following the walk.
Kevin Ung, a junior studying business, is helping out for the third year in a row.
“Last year, I spent 100 plus hours planning the event and it was all worth it. My favorite part was seeing the community come together for a common goal,” Ung said.
Aldin Pope, an executive program director, said the Community Outreach Day Committee has a goal of increasing attendance from 1,200 to 1,500.
“Our main goal is to get people excited to give back to a community that has given so much to them,” Pope said.
Chris Crippen, Director of the Center of Service and Learning, said the event is not only for students, but for the whole community as well.
“We want to engage the community as much as we can, as well as putting Martin Luther King’s message of service to action,” Crippen said.
