Students ‘Serve Siloam’
The annual tradition of service dates back to the 1990s.
Around 550 John Brown University students and staff members descended upon Siloam Springs on Monday morning armed with paint scrapers, rakes and more, as part of JBU orientation week’s annual “Serve Siloam” service event.
Every year since the 1990s, new freshmen have been divided up into work teams and sent around to meet Siloam Springs in a morning of service, working in places such as Camp Siloam, Ability Tree, local churches and more.
This year, the roughly 400 freshmen worked at 37 locations around the area.
Sarah Erdman, JBU’s new Orientation Director, said this year there was more of a focus on working at people’s houses on projects they needed help with.
JBU reached out to local churches to see if they had congregation members who needed assistance with yard work or projects.
Erdman said the response has been very positive. Both students and community members who got help from students have shown appreciation for the event.
“I have great stories of students getting to ride old cars that a man had restored, or of people from non-profits coming out and working alongside students,” Erdman said.
A student told Erdman that after her team worked to help plant flowers at Ability Tree, she will be reminded of the good memories every time she passes it.
The program is designed to get students out into Siloam Springs and introduce them to the city their university inhabits.
“It connects them into the community in a unique way through service,” Erdman said. “It’s a strong connection to Siloam.”
“We do this to show our freshmen the culture of JBU,” said Tori Roberts, a junior at JBU, who was helping on the orientation staff. “We want our students to be servants.”
The service day is a way to introduce new students to JBU’s “Head, Heart and Hands” philosophy, the last part of which emphasizes service. Students use their hands to help contribute to their new community.
Meredith Bergstrom, director of the nonprofit Main Street Siloam Springs, said she and the business owners of downtown appreciated the service.
“JBU works very closely with non-profits in Siloam Springs, which we are really grateful for,” Bergstrom said.
“It means a lot — I think it’s a great thing to get them involved in downtown Siloam Springs and the heartbeat of the downtown.”
Bergstrom said JBU students are important to the city and downtown. One way is being present, interacting with the farmers market and downtown businesses.
Those same students can choose to live downtown and become part of the community in a few years when they are allowed to move off campus.
“We really appreciate JBU reaching out and contributing to the community,” Bergstrom said.