More than 450 students, faculty and staff spent Oct. 22 performing community service and outreach programs for Walla Walla College’s (WWC) 11th annual Service Day.

Participants kicked off the morning at 7 a.m. with a pancake breakfast and worship on the lawn in front of the Melvin K. West Fine Arts Center. From there, groups dispersed throughout the community to 46 different projects.

The staff of Village Student Life and Rental Properties went to the Blue Mountain Humane Society and lent a hand with landscaping to help the organization finish moving into their newly built animal shelter.

“It was very fun,” says Cyndi Jacobsen, a staff member on the Village Student Life and Rental Properties office team. “It was nice getting physical work and getting out in the community and meeting other people. The facility is so much bigger. It was really nice to see, and they really have a good program there.”

The Environmental Science Club planted shrubs and re-seeded grass at Bennington Lake for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as part of an environmental mitigation project. The Theology Club weeded flowerbeds and spread bark for the Children’s Home Society.

For Fall Service Day 2003, Jonny Hayasaka, project coordinator and WWC community service director, felt the need to end the day by meeting as a group to celebrate. The volunteers gathered together at the end of their projects for an afternoon barbecue on Centennial Green.

Area businesses and organizations provided funding, water bottles and food for the event. Sponsors included Walla Walla General Hospital, the WWC president’s office, the Walla Walla College Church, Wal-Mart, Sodexho, Rogers' Cookie Tree Bakery & Café, Positive Life Radio 91.3 KGTS, Plaza Safeway, anonymous donors and Andy’s Market.

Linda Emmerson, WWC philosophy instructor, organized the first all-college Service Day in 1992. Since then, it has become a yearly tradition in which the WWC family gives of their time and skills to a community that has provided a supportive, nurturing environment in which to live and learn.