This Saturday will be UCLA’s second annual Community
Service Day, when dozens of student organizations and hundreds of
students will come together to work on various service projects in
the West Los Angeles area.
Participants will choose between volunteering at two different
senior citizen centers, painting a homeless shelter, a beach
cleanup at Venice Beach, and walking dogs at two animal
shelters.
The day is sponsored by the Community Service Commission, but
Carmela Bombay, the commission’s programs director, is quick
to correct, “It’s not CSC day, it’s UCLA
Community Service Day.”
The wide array of student groups that have stepped up to work
with the commission for the day include fraternities and
sororities, the Office of Residential Life and a variety of
on-campus community service and fellowship organizations.
“I’ve seen a lot of different community service
groups, but none of them ever collaborate,” said Crystal Lee,
community service commissioner for the Undergraduate Students
Association Council. “There’s never been one event
where people saw the community as UCLA.”
Bombay agreed, emphasizing the importance of bringing together
the different campus groups in an event of this kind.
“Students from diverse backgrounds don’t have an
opportunity to come to an event together, to step beyond their
social circles,” Bombay added.
This year’s event is expected to draw around 200
students.
David Schein, president of Circle K, an on-campus service and
fellowship organization, is planning to bring around 10 to 15 of
his group’s members to a local animal shelter.
Circle K has been working with the shelter on a monthly basis,
walking stray dogs for several hours each visit.
“The dogs are sheltered, so they are not owned by
anyone,” Schein said of the importance of the volunteering
opportunity. “They’re stuck in their cages most of the
week.”
Coordinators hope the day will also be a chance for students to
learn about other service opportunities that exist year-round.
After the site visits, there will be a community service fair
which will have information on a variety of on- and off-campus
non-profit groups and service organizations.
Last year’s Community Service Day, the first ever at UCLA,
suffered from several date changes because of conflicting home
football games.
As a result, about 15 students came out to the event last year,
commission members said.
The improvement is something Bombay attributes to better
planning. “We didn’t put it up against a football
game.”
For more information on Community Service Day, visit
www.uclacsc.org.