2016 Marks Another Successful Year of Into the Streets

The day starts at 6:00 a.m. on October 5^th for the members of ODK. Quite early for a day off. Forty-five gallons of fruit juice and 76 dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts are laid out, soon to entice and excite groggy students. Last minute preparations are made and then, finally, it’s time, time to give back, time to get involved, time to go Into the Streets.

Into the Streets is a campus-wide event day that encourages students and staff at Morningside College to volunteer in groups and give back to their community at different agencies. ODK, an honor society on campus, started Into the Streets ten years ago.

Asked about what started Into the Streets, Leslie Werden, one of the professors involved in ODK, stated the honor society “wanted to create a service project that would involve the entire campus. The first year we had around 300 participants and it has grown to almost 900 since then.”

This year 79 agencies and 890 students and staff participated in the event. Although ODK did not reach its goal of recruiting 1,000 volunteers this year, members are still proud of what they were able to accomplish.

As Kelsey Brenner, Co Vice President for the Into the Streets committee said, “We were able to make a difference in the community regardless of the thousand people.”

Tracy Gates, the other Co Vice President for the committee, was also proud of the turnout this year. “I think that this year’s event was a success . . . and, from most of our feedback, the volunteers did an awesome job and were greatly appreciated by the community,” Gates said.

One of the reasons that Into the Streets has been such a success is because of the spirit of giving back and how these students positively impact not only the people they are helping, but themselves as well.

For example, asked what Into the Streets meant to her, Brenner said it is a, “way to get college students to give back to their community and it’s a way for them to see firsthand what other agencies do and how they affect people, which also helps them make connections within that community and maybe they’ll find a new passion. So it’s all about new experiences and getting to see things that you don’t see on a daily basis.”

Although Into the Streets has triumphed in many ways, Brenner and Gates noted there is still room for improvement. For example, some of the agencies turned away volunteers when they showed up at their doorsteps and replacements had to be found. In future years, ODK members will need to give agencies a better heads up before the event to make sure all of them are still interested in the event and are prepared to take on volunteers.

Gates and Brenner both agreed that other ways to improve would be: figuring out how to get sports groups, commuters, and other individuals more involved; finding ways to increase knowledge of the event on campus in the month leading up with it; and confirming the type work agencies want their volunteers to perform, so the volunteers come prepared.

When asked if she sees Into the Streets lasting long into the future, Werden said, “I’m confident this event will last well into the future. Our community organizations have begun looking forward to it and planning for it each year. Our campus community knows this is a wonderful way of promoting the concept of working together and building relationships with each other and with the city that supports our college and its students.”

Sources

Brenner, K. (2016, October 10). Personal interview.

Gates, T. (2016, October 18). Email interview.

Werden, L. (2016, October 10). Email interview.