What started as one week of service, intending to gather 100 volunteers to serve Missoula, spiraled into a 10-event experience that lasted over the course of 12 days. With over 230 volunteers total, the event was a hit!
UM’s Week of Service was part of a national movement to transform September 11th into a day of doing good. Since 2009, and even prior to its official declaration, this day has become one of the largest volunteer days in the country, held in honor of the community unity and resilience that arose after 9/11. Through generous funding from 911day, Americorps, and Western Region Continuums of Service Consortium (WRCOS), we held a variety of events that focused on community service.
Events began on Saturday, September 6th, in the rattlesnake, picking apples of all things! While it looked like lots of fun (which it was), our Bears and Apples event, in partnership with Great Bear Foundation, is actually a huge help in reducing bear attractants in the more rural parts of Missoula. A team of over 30 volunteers gleaned over a thousand pounds of fruit from four different properties, making the community safer for both bears and humans. Then, volunteers headed over to the Montana Urban Development(MUD) Toole Library to press apples for cider. Apples in really good condition were donated to the food bank, and any fruit that wasn’t donated or pressed was taken home by volunteers to be made into pies, cobblers, and jams.
After a day outside on Saturday, we picked right back up on Monday afternoon with a visit to Franklin Elementary School. Here, Volunteer UM’s leaders, Jenah, Michael, Taylor, and I taught an important lesson to a couple of classes of second graders. Titled, “Who Are The Helpers”, our lesson focused on what a community looks like to an elementary school student, why it’s important, and who in our communities are there to help when we need it.
We looked at the book Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora, and discussed the concept of reciprocity, or the cycle of giving. To culminate the lesson, students hand-wrote thank-you cards to local firefighters!
After the visited Franklin, a group of volunteers headed over to the Missoula Food Bank and Community Center (MFB&CC), where they assisted in an EmPower Pack build. While the event had been planned for a 2-hour window, EmPower packers were able to finish in record time, packing over 1200 packs in just one hour. The volunteers consisted of the UM Advocates, Griz Softball, and the Certel Lab on campus. At the end of packing, we asked volunteers what they found impactful about serving MFB&CC. Volunteers mentioned that being a student can be isolating, and that so much of their experience is limited to campus, so volunteering is an amazing way to get off campus and get more familiar with our neighbors.
On Tuesday, UM Grounds and Facilities and UM Military and Veteran Services gathered to beautify UM’s Grateful Nation Monument outside the social sciences building. Jenah and I stopped by to help, and together we planted mums and pulled weeds surrounding the memorial. This was in preparation for the 9/11 Memorial Ceremony that took place on Thursday.
Also on Thursday was our Crafting for Cause pop-up for the Boys and Girls Club (BGC). In the DHC lounge, volunteers crafted 30 scarves and handwritten letters to be gifted to BGC students. The scarves were made in preparation for their Hogsmeade Harvest Feast, which will take place on October 17th. It serves as a fundraiser for their Back-a-Kid scholarship program, which supports local kids and ensures that everyone has an opportunity to attend BGC afterschool and summer programs.
Friday night, an incredible group of Mansfield Center staff put together dinner for families at the YWCA. They made spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, and brought a variety of cookies for the families to enjoy. This meal was made for the YWCA’s pathways program, a part of their domestic violence shelter, and this opportunity helped to provide easy-access home-cooked meals to women and children in need.
To round out our week, the UM advocates partnered with Habitat for Humanity to help with the construction of one of their sites. Over the course of 8 hours, 10 volunteers helped to repair a home in order to sustain the health of the residence and the longevity of the structure.
After a long week of service, there was still more to do! UM’s Honors Students Association built gift baskets for Missoula’s firehouses at their bi-weekly meeting on September 18th, compiling 5 different baskets with essentials such as Liquid IV, snacks, coffee, and, of course, the handwritten cards from Franklin Elementary! Delivered by both HSA students and ELCS staff, the gifts were well received and served as an opportunity to thank heroes in our community and foster strong relationships within it.
With our remaining funds, we reached out to Kat Cowley at UM’s Food Pantry and discovered that the pantry was lacking some seasoning. After a quick trip to the Chef store, we gathered some volunteers and distributed everything into individual packets that can be picked up at the Food Pantry, along with various nutritious food items for students to take home.
Our week of service encompassed one central idea: Community. With such a wide range of partner organizations and volunteer groups, Volunteer UM was able to make a large impact on the Missoula Community, not just for those served, but for the volunteers and the program leaders as well! While the Week of Service is over, service learning is clear and strong at UM. Looking forward, I am ecstatic to see how volunteerism in Missoula continues to flourish.
