The 2004 National Youth Service Day will be held Saturday in the Weinland Park neighborhood.
Volunteers will meet at the Godman Guild on E. Sixth Street at 10 a.m., break into groups and begin various tasks around the community.
Every spring, volunteers from Franklin County and Ohio State help make this annual day of service a success by working together for one day to make a lasting difference in the community.
“Cleaning streets alone does not create safer neighborhoods. But when this project is seen in conjunction with other efforts, a blizzard appears,” said AmeriCorp Vista volunteer Larry Meade in a statement about the Weinland Park cleanup. “Clean streets lead to pride, which can lead to investment, which can lead to jobs, which can lead to bright futures and achieved dreams and goals. This project is small, but an important piece of a large, complex puzzle.”
Participants will engage in several different projects throughout the day, including preparing community gardens, painting neighborhood murals and mulching Weinland Park.
“Besides wanting things to look better, people in the neighborhood felt that this is the one thing in the neighborhood they could control, and it helps people to be happy and comfortable in their own neighborhood,” said Sue Brooks, program director for Service Learning Initiative at OSU.
Brooks has worked closely with programs like the National Youth Service Day, Make a Difference Day and Weinland Park Cleanup Day since 2001.
The National Youth Day of Service has been in existence for more than two years and was established as a way to introduce students to the Weinland Park community.
Volunteers have planted more than 10 trees in Weinland Park, built and painted 75 flower boxes and led a door-to-door campaign encouraging residents to use trash bags when disposing of trash.
FIRSTLINK, Godman Guild and Keep Columbus Beautiful are only a few of the organizations that have consistently supported the National Youth Service Day.
“FIRSTLINK helps make this event community-wide, instead of just OSU (involved); Godman Guild is in the University District and have been great partners; and Keep Columbus Beautiful provides extra manpower for the day,” said Jen Bossard, coordinator of community service and leadership at the Ohio Union.
Bossard encourages students to take advantage of this opportunity and become familiar with an area that is very close to campus.
“It’s very low-commitment and easy if you’re looking for one day of community service,” Bossard said. “It’s also a day to help Ohio State students to branch out and work with members of the community.”
Students interested in participating can sign up at communityconnection.osu.edu or by calling 292-SERV.
