Days of Service bring national attention to volunteering on several days every year. The largest Days of Service include:
o MLK Jr. Day of Service
o Global Youth Service Day
o 9/11 Day of Service & Remembrance
o Make a Difference Day
o Family Volunteer Day
The Volunteer Center of Story County plans and
coordinates large-scale service projects on many of these days to engage the Story County
community in the national service movement.
Our projects:
o 9/11 Day of Service & Remembrance 2011 - The Volunteer Center partnered with the Maxwell Area Renewal Committee (MARC) on a community service project in Maxwell, IA. Over 100 volunteers served over 300 hours on September 11th by painting the VFW building, the American Legion Auxiliary building, a Veteran's Memorial community board, the homes of 2 Maxwell veterans, many Main Street businesses, and clearing storm debris and litter. In total, there were over 20 projects!
o Make a Difference Day 2011 - for six years the Volunteer Center has partnered with Central Iowa RSVP and MICA to host the Winter Weatherization Challenge, where volunteers are trained to weatherize the homes of elderly, disabled, and low-income individuals. On October 29, 2011, 112 volunteers weatherized 42 homes throughout the Story County community.
o MLK Day 2012 - Over 130 volunteers served for MLK Day of Service 2012. They worked at 5 different service projects in Ames:
- Assembled care packages for survivors of domestic violence - project hosted by the Volunteer Center of Story County & United Ames
- Processed donations at the Ames Goodwill Store
- Created greeting cards for Birthright of Ames' clients
- Cleaned & organized rooms at ACCESS, domestic violence shelter
- Collected food for the Mid-Iowa Community Action (MICA) food pantry through the Wesley Foundation's Supermarket Stakeout
o Global Youth Service Day 2010 - nearly 100 volunteers came together to create a community garden called the Service Patch. Volunteers built a fence, cleared brush, constructed a shed, compost bin, and raised planters, and installed rain barrels. The Service Patch is managed by volunteers, and throughout the summer 2010 the garden saw 616 volunteer visits with 847.75 hours volunteered. Over 500lbs of food grown at the garden were donated to pantries and shelters throughout Story County. The Service Patch was inspired by AmeZone, the youth service-learning group the Volunteer Center facilitates with United Ames.
- GYSD 2011 & 2012 - Youth volunteers and community members have come together each April to continue caring for the Service Patch garden and preparing it for the garden season! These volunteers painted the garden shed, marked out garden beds, pulled weeds, and laid mulch through the garden walkways.
