Ball State University students logged hundreds of hours at 18 locations in the Muncie community this past weekend in the Ball State Student Action Team's fifth annual 24 Hours of Service.
By the end of the 24-hour volunteer marathon, about 200 participants logged a total of 700 hours of work at locations including the Muncie Fire Department and Second Harvest Food Bank.
Student Action Team Vice President Anna Simon got two hours of sleep between 6 p.m. Friday, when the volunteering began, and 6 p.m. Saturday, when then volunteers called it quits.
Despite the lack of sleep, Simon said the opportunity to be a part of such a large, charitable event made it worth staying awake for a majority of the 24 hours.
"It's really impressive how many Ball State students came out to support the Muncie community," she said. "We registered more people than we ever expected to, and to have even more come out to participate was awesome."
The volunteers spent their time doing things like playing games with residents at Liberty Village Nursing Home and renovating a training facility for the Muncie Fire Department.
Freshman Taylor Groft, who helped paint a utility shed at the Youth Opportunity Center, said he enjoys spending time to help those in need because of the feeling of accomplishment that comes along with the work he does.
"If there was something I needed help with, I would want someone to help me," Groft said. "It isn't hard to give some of my time to help others, so why not make a difference?"
A group of women in Kappa Delta sorority spent their afternoon reorganizing an attic packed to the ceiling with stage props at the Muncie Civic Theatre.
The theater's executive director Marty Grubbs said that having the volunteers there was a huge blessing.
"Being a mostly volunteer organization ourselves, having volunteers donate some of their time to help us out is a huge deal," he said. "It's things like this that really help us keep our costs low, and the work the volunteers are doing today just wouldn't get done otherwise."
In addition to assisting the various local beneficiaries, the volunteers also spent time stuffing bags full of cookies and candy to be sent to soldiers serving in Iraq.
Even though the event had been nationally recognized for its efforts in past years, the turnout for this year's 24 Hours of Service surpassed all previous years.
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