Senior telecommunications major Alivia Johnson spent the end of her three-day weekend volunteering for Ball State University's Day of Service for the third year in a row.
Student Voluntary Services organized service projects for students at local agencies in need of volunteers, coordinator Celia Atkinson said.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day became the National Day of Service in 1994 and Ball State first recognized the event through student volunteers three years ago, she said.
Johnson said spending the day volunteering was time well spent.
'It's important because there are a lot of things going on in the world, like Haiti,' she said. 'People should be more prone to help out.'
Atkinson said Martin Luther King Jr. Day was a good day for students to volunteer.
'The Day of Service is just about getting BSU students involved on a day off [from school],' she said. 'It's about fulfilling his dream for the day by giving back to the community.'
SVS arranged volunteering opportunities at Second Harvest Food Bank, Muncie Ballet, Rebuilding Together, the YWCA, Muncie Mission, Ross Community Center, Willowbend Living Center and Precious Hearts Development Center for students this year.
A lot of the work was manual labor, including bagging and organizing food, cleaning rooms out and spending time with children, Atkinson said.
Muncie Mission men's counselor Danny Smith said volunteering could be an eye opener to students by viewing situations that don't directly affect them.
'These [issues students are helping out with] can't be fixed in one day,' he said. 'But I can be affected by [the earthquake in] Haiti and students can be affected by what they see here. It can change the course of their lives.'
Many of the agencies in the Muncie area depend on volunteers. Students in their early 20s are the ideal group to help out, but they're also the age group that are least likely to volunteer, Atkinson said. With many of the budget cuts non-profit organizations are facing, it's important for students to get involved, she said.
Senior and SVS member Susan Meleason said volunteering at Second Harvest Food Bank on Monday was a way to give back to the community she goes to school in.
'There are so many organizations, and there are so many places to volunteer at in Muncie,' she said. 'It's important because as college students, we don't have much money so this can be a way we can give back.'
Johnson said there's no reason why students can't volunteer. Volunteering allows students to experience personal growth, to get to know Muncie and to meet other students, she said.
Atkinson said students often claim they don't have time to volunteer, but they spend time on Facebook and watching television. Instead, students could put their energy toward volunteering, she said.
Sophomore elementary education major Rachel Lill said most college students are capable of finding spare time to volunteer. People can sacrifice time with friends or they can encourage their friends to volunteer with them, she said.
Days students get off, like Monday, are a prime opportunity for students to get involved, so students should use the extra time to give back, Lill said.
'There are so many people in our own backyards that we don't notice and we need to give back to them,' she said.'
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