by Todd Feathers, News Correspondent
Students, staff, and alumni volunteered in Roxbury, Mission Hill and other areas surrounding Northeastern last weekend as part of the university’s effort to give back to the community for NU Service Day.
“We have a lot of people that live in Mission Hill, and it’s very important for us to be seen out in the community helping people out,” said Dan Murdzia, president of Northeastern’s chapter of Kappa Sigma fraternity.
Members of Kappa Sigma helped pick up trash and plant flowers in Mission Hill. Murdzia said the Northeastern service days provide a great opportunity for members of his fraternity to fulfill their community service requirements.
Students and community organizers said the day was well-organized and successful.
The Center of Community Service contacted community organizers to ask if they would like to participate, and students were able to register online or by contacting the university’s Center of Community Service. Several university organizations, including Jumpstart Northeastern and the Black Engineering Student Society, also helped arrange work for volunteers.
Volunteers performed for 25 different community organizations, including schools, homeless shelters and city parks. Students raked leaves at Franklin Park Zoo and stenciled anti-litter signs by city storm drains for the Boston Water and Sewage Commission.
Molly Bloom, a sophomore behavioral neuroscience major, worked with students from the Black Engineering Student Society to distribute ACT, SAT, financial aid and Northeastern information door-to-door in Roxbury. She said some students were apprehensive at first about knocking on stranger’s doors.
“I guess that’s not really the first thing you want to do on a Saturday morning, but it ended up being a lot of fun,” she said.
Naia L. Wilson has been principal of New Mission High School for five years, and has welcomed Northeastern students every year as part of the service days. Ten students volunteered at New Mission High School this year, working to organize school supplies, bind reading material for students and clean out classrooms that could be used in the future.
“Every nook and cranny of this building has been either cleaned or cleared out by Northeastern volunteers,” she said. “[Volunteers] don’t really realize the impact, because it’s a huge huge service, it’s bigger than they think.”
The next service day will take place next year; however, the Center for Community Service also runs alternative spring break, a week-long program for students who wish to volunteer during their spring break, as well as the honors outreach project, a program for first-year honors students to volunteer in surrounding areas.
