Marshall University’s second annual Community Cares Week: Giving Back to the Herd was an overwhelming success, with hundreds of volunteers pitching in to make a positive impact on the university’s campuses and centers.
The four-day sweat equity event focused on engaging faculty, staff, students, community members, local businesses and alumni chapters to help check off “To Do List” items for the university, while giving back to the university that has invested in them. Alumni chapters who were unable to make it back to campus worked on service projects in their own communities as well.
This year, the volunteer week surpassed last year’s event by more than 60% with a total of 724 people who pre-registered or walked up to volunteer, working 1,958 service hours. Additionally, there were approximately 100 staff members working anywhere from one shift to all nine by leading projects, as well as a dozen staff or cabinet members serving lunches and drawing raffle prizes each day.
Several area groups also volunteered together, including the MU Early Education Steam Center, State Electric, the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Alumni Chapter, the Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Marshall Men’s Basketball Team. Boy Scouts with Troop 12 helped complete Thomas Farrell’s Eagle Scout project.
To view a video compilation of Community Cares Week, narrated by President Brad D. Smith, click here. To view photos of volunteers and projects, click here.
The following materials used for projects included:
-661 flowers and shrubs
-6 trees
-1,770 bags of mulch
-80 landscaping stones
-10 Adirondack chairs
-20 tons of rock
-75 gallons of paint
-154 pairs of safety glasses
-146 pairs of jersey gloves
-40 boxes of disposable gloves
-30 gallons of gas for pressure washers
-116 paint rollers
-134 paint brushes
-30 rolls of painter’s tape
-20 paint pans
-30 pan liners
-6 rolls of painter’s paper
-30 rolls of 10×12 drop cloth
-2 boxes of painter’s rags
-24 microfiber cleaning cloths
-4 – 64 oz. bottles of cleaning vinegar
-3 30-yard dumpsters
-1 solar charger
The following tasks were completed by volunteers:
Landscaping
-New plants, trees and mulch were added across campus, including around the Memorial Student Center Plaza, the Welcome Center, all undergraduate residence halls, the Landing, Housing and Residence Life offices, Smith Hall, the Fred and Christine Shewey Athletics Building and the Education Building. Rocks were also placed on a hill between Old Main and Smith Hall. ROTC also completed special cleaning and landscaping projects at memorial sites around campus.
Pressure Washing
-Sidewalks and entryways across campus, including the Memorial Student Center, Drinko Library, Joan C. Edwards Stadium and brick pavers and concrete planters on the Memorial Student Center Plaza.
Painting
-Areas across campus, including Joan C. Edwards Stadium, bike racks outside of buildings and a total of 14 rooms and the first floor main hallway of Buskirk Hall.
Carpentry
-A new seating area was constructed outside of Morrow Library on Buskirk Field and Adirondack chairs were added between the Education Building and Prichard Hall.
Housekeeping
-All residence halls and the Memorial Student Center were cleaned, including windows and floors and bleachers and seats inside the Henderson Center were wiped down. Corbly Hall, Drinko Library and Harris Hall were cleaned out, filling three 30-yard dumpsters.
Thrift Store
-More than 150 bins of donations from residence hall Green Move Out events were organized and store areas were cleaned.
Off-Campus Alumni Events
-Several Huntington-area alumni groups worked together in projects on campus, including the MU Black Alumni, the Greater Huntington Alumni Chapter and the Society of Yeager Scholars Alumni Chapter. Alumni groups in other areas worked together in their communities in the name of Community Cares Week, including the Mid-Ohio Valley Alumni Chapter in Parkersburg, West Virginia, the Greater Annapolis Area Alumni Chapter in Annapolis, Maryland, the Myrtle Beach Alumni Chapter in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the Southern Coalfields Alumni Chapter in Beckley, West Virginia, the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Alumni Chapter in Cincinnati, Ohio, the Eastern Panhandle Alumni Chapter in Martinsburg, West Virginia, and the Raleigh Alumni Chapter in Raleigh, North Carolina.