On Jan. 16, 2012, students, staff and faculty members celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service by going into the community as volunteer workers. Jessie Hurse, Director of Student Life, spoke of a number of volunteer agencies throughout Flint and the surrounding community that received help from UM-Flint and other colleges, including Kettering University, Mott Community College, and Baker College.

One way that people can serve was at a blood drive in the Happenings room through a company called Michigan Blood.

“Their concept is really cool because any donations that they get stay in the state of Michigan,” Hurse said. “Those that donate blood today can be rest assured that their donation will help someone right here in their own community. And I think that’s great.”

Hurse also spoke of the importance of honoring this day by helping the community.

“Dr. King was all about service and servitude,” Hurse said. “We… have [gone] out to try to galvanize our university community to go out and serve the community that this campus is in. It’s important to keep that legacy of service that Dr. King stood for alive.”

According to Hurse, the number of volunteers had increased dramatically from

the time that he began the coordination six years ago; this year, over 225 people registered to volunteer.

“It’s just astonishing to me that we were able to motivate and galvanize individuals and get out there and serve the community,” Hurse said. “I think that the question that we asked this year is really resonating and that question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’ These agencies definitely need all the help they can to help serve those who are less fortunate in our community.”

Crystal Flynn, Diversity Trainer in Diversity Education Services, has volunteered in the MLK Day of Service since she began attending UM-Flint as a college student in 1997. In 2001, she was hired as a staff member of the university and continued volunteering. Her involvement in the organization confirms UM-Flint’s consistent service in the community.

“In terms of numbers, though, I think we’ve had more students who volunteer now than in previous years,” Flynn said. “It goes up and down. Every year we always have a good core of volunteers come out each year.”

Flynn said that UM-Flint averages about 150 volunteers each year, including groups of sorority sisters Delta Sigma Theta and Alpha Kappa Alpha, who went to sites as a group to volunteer. Flynn mentioned that students can also receive service cords upon graduation, depending on how many hours they spend doing volunteer work. She also expressed her hope that people continue volunteering after MLK Day.

“Just because we take this one day of the year to give back, there are still 364 other days,” Flynn said. “…A lot of times I don’t think we understand how privileged we are to be in a higher education, as a student, a staff member or a faculty member.”

Flynn mentioned that students can find more volunteer work through Gary Ashley at the University Outreach.

UM-Flint offered many different activities for people to participate in. Julia Zaher, Volunteer Services Director at Hands On Genesee, talked about one of the projects her agency is doing.

“One of the projects we’re doing is distributing door hangers that advertise free tax preparation services,” Zaher said. “What we want is for people to be more educated so that they realize if you have your taxes done through one of these sites, it’ll get deposited right in your bank account and you’ll get your full amount.”

Zaher said she hopes that volunteers will connect to something they can get excited about and continue to help the community. Her organization can be found online at www.handsongenesee.org.

Another agency that people volunteered at was the Genesee County Habitat for Humanity, where four teams of people worked on building sheds. Ryan Johnson, Program Coordinator with Genesee County Habitat for Humanity and 2009 UM-Flint grad in mathematics, did two years of service with Habitat for Humanity as a student.

“Our staff really has a passion for growing our partnership with the universities in Flint,” Johnson said.

“We’ve seen an increased numbers of students and staff becoming involved with our organization because of our efforts and the willingness of the students to start getting involved.” Last year, the organization had over 3,800 volunteers.

Kappa Sigma fraternity members were among the students who volunteered to build sheds. Nick Boulton, sophomore with undecided major, said that this was his first time volunteering and that it was a good team building activity.

“I feel like it’s good to give back to the community,” Boulton said.

Jared Arnold, a junior biochemistry major, had worked with Habitat for Humanity in the past with Kappa Sigma.

“Every time I come out and work with these guys I learn something new, whether it’s building a wall, building a shed, something that’s, you know, really practical,” Arnold said. “It’s a service you can learn at.”

More information on Habitat for Humanity and upcoming projects can be found at www.habitat.org.

June can be reached jhudson@umflint.com