Service Day offers way to give back
BATESVILLE — The annual Lyon College Service Day — a Lyon College tradition since the 1990s — was held Oct. 20.
Jonathan Davey, student engagement specialist at Lyon, said more than 1,800 volunteer hours were logged during the event, which benefited nonprofit organizations in and around Batesville. More than 500 students, faculty and staff participated in the annual service project.
“It’s been part of the mission of the college to get our students to be lifelong learners and provide lifelong service to others,” said Davey, who has been at Lyon College for a year and a half. “This is just one way to do that.”
Every year in the fall, the Service Day is held. All classes are canceled for the day, Davey said.
“[We] encourage everyone to find a service project and basically help out for half of a day,” he said.
Davey said the school spends several months contacting nonprofits in the area.
“We have a database of different nonprofits that are nearby and some that we have worked with for a while,” he said. “We just reach out to them to see what is available.”
A website, www.lyon.givepulse.com, was established to help students and volunteers register for helping with Service Day.
Lyon student Hope Woods coordinated the event this year.
“I think the website created a way to organize Service Day and allow students to see all the projects out there so they could sign up for the one they felt most passionate about,” she said, adding, “It also provided a great way to keep track of data about Service Day.”
Davey said 44 organizations
responded with needs. Some that benefited from the Service Day include the city of Batesville, Special Olympics of Arkansas, Childcare Aware of Northeast Arkansas, the Batesville Housing Authority, the Independence County Humane Society, Cave City Nursing Home, Eagle Mountain Magnet School and Family Violence Prevention.
Some of the tasks performed included picking up trash, painting, cleaning and reading books to students.
“We want nonprofits to use the website,” Davey said. “Our students now have profiles on this website, and they will continue to check it throughout the year to find out how they can continue to volunteer, not just this one day.
“Nonprofits can get on there and put their volunteer opportunities, and people can sign up that way.”
Woods said that while the Service Day helps the Batesville community, the event can also serve to inspire Lyon students who participate.
“I believe that once students get involved in service and in the community, they find what they’re passionate about,” she said. “[When] they believe they can make a difference, they become more involved.”