On Oct. 26, Auburn students set out to give back to the community they call home during the Rooted in Service event. This event, hosted annually by on-campus service organization IMPACT, sends students out in teams to tackle tasks for Auburn and Opelika residents who could use a few helping hands.
“Essentially, what Rooted is is an event where students can come together, meet each other and then get to go to different places in the community where people have been like, ‘Hey, we would love some help cleaning up our yard,’ or ‘Hey, me and my husband aren’t able to do this anymore. We would love for some students to come out,'” said Brooke Gordon, IMPACT’s vice president of communications and marketing. “So, just a way to interact with each other but also build some community connections while doing something good in the process."
This year, teams of students visited more than 20 different locations to provide their services. Yard work, cleaning and minor maintenance were performed in accordance with each individual’s specific needs. Many benefactors of this program are elderly individuals who simply need a hand with more physically taxing chores.
Sheila Eckman, an Auburn resident who has been a benefactor of the program for five years, spoke to this very issue.
“I think it’s a wonderful service, especially for old people like me who can’t get up on a ladder and do those things anymore," Eckman said. "And, you know, even if you have the money and you can afford to hire people to do it, it’s hard to find people to do some of those things, so it’s a really nice community project."
For those interested in receiving help from the Rooted teams, an announcement is released on Facebook prior to the event. From there, Auburn and Opelika community members can apply for the program by answering a few simple questions, mainly about their location and specific needs. Once accepted, a team of volunteer students is assigned to them day of to spend the afternoon doing whatever needs to be done.
For students, this is an opportunity to interact with peers while making a positive difference in the local community. IMPACT hosts three major service events per year, including Rooted in Service, that students can volunteer for individually or as a group.
IMPACT also hosts smaller service events every week, as well as alternative breaks, which are service trips outside of Alabama during winter and spring breaks. These trips are available to students at little to no cost. Further information about these activities can be found under the AU Involve service tab.
“I started getting involved with IMPACT last spring, and I volunteered at the food bank twice a week through their local service branch. I really liked the outreach that they got and how easy it was to with your community through them,” said Cassidy Karonka, project coordinator for IMPACT. “It’s just an easy way to get involved in your community and make a difference.”
Those interested in community outreach can apply to become an IMPACT member on AU Involve. Getting involved is an excellent way to earn service hours if needed, while leaving a positive, lasting effect on the Auburn-Opelika area.
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