Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are you doing for others?'"
On Saturday, January 28th, 2012, 20 Ripon College students (and faculty) of all ages, grades, interests, and majors answered that question by gathering together to participate in Ripon College's annual observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. The 2012 MLK Day of Service was split into three separate service projects in order to address the need present in our community and provide RC students with a variety of different projects to participate in in order to effectively utilize their unique individual skill sets.
Project #1
Students flexed their creative muscles to create beautifully decorated seed pots to be filled with dirt and plants and given to the residents at local assisted living facilities to bring life and color inside during the cold, often dreary months of February and March here in Wisconsin.
Project #2
Volunteers worked together to craft 8 beautiful, hand tied fleece blankets to be given to area children during a visit to the hospital or emergency room. The students who created these soft, brightly colored blankets hope that they will be able to provide these children and their families (our neighbors) with a sense of security and the feelingthat they are loved by those in their community.
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| Brightly colored blankets offer cheer and security to local children during their hospital stay. |
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| OCE Intern Katrina Schauland ('12) holds up one of the blankets created during Ripon College's MLK Day of Service 2012. |
Project #3
A crew of 10 volunteers traveled to the Ripon Public Library to complete some deep cleaning--dusting blinds, washing windows, moving collections, washing shelves, etc. In a small community such as Ripon the Public Library serves as an important information and social hub, and many patrons depend upon services such as tax form availability, internet, reference materials, a warm, quiet, place to hang out after school or work, or--for a few patrons throughout the years--even as a comfortable judge-free zone to warm up in before spending a cold night in his/her vehicle. Dusting blinds and washing windows may seem like a small thing, but when volunteers handle these tasks, it frees up time for the invaluable staff of the Ripon Public Library to focus their attention on providing vital services to the Library patrons of Ripon instead.
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| (Above) RC students pose for a group photo after cleaning at the Ripon Public Library. (Below) Students place books on library carts before cleaning the shelves and replacing books. |
