Record Participation Makes Into the Streets a Huge Success
A record number of Morningside students went “Into the Streets” to help those in need. Nearly 800 students and some faculty participated in ODK’s annual college community service day, helping with various service projects with non-profit groups throughout the Siouxland community. With the recent devastation from Missouri river flooding, most students engaged in flood clean-up, but there were many other activities also going on.
The day began at 7:30 Wednesday morning as hundreds of students filed into Eppley Auditorium before heading into the streets. There they were greeted by Into the Streets coordinators, Jackie Lincoln and Jessica Boschen. Omicron Delta Kappa is a leadership honor society for upperclassmen, focusing on getting students involved in community involvement through service. From here, the more than 50 campus organizations involved dispersed across the tri-state region to help those in need.
Over half the students worked on flood cleanup at the Riv-R-Land Estates area in Dakota Dunes, under supervision of the Salvation Army. Other areas impacted by Morningside’s involvement were the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center, Crossroads Homeless Shelter, and the Food Bank of Siouxland.
The day was certainly full of hard work, but most students liked the aspect of helping people. One of nearly 500 students helping at Riv-R-land Estates, Morningside junior Danielle Dahlkoetter agreed. “I wasn’t expecting to work that hard, but it was a great feeling knowing we were really helping people.”
Jesus Cendejas, a sophomore, also helped out with flood relief as part of the campus ministry group. “In the past I’ve worked with campus ministries and participated in several mission trips. Last year I helped with flood relief after their devastating 2008 flood, and also went to New Mexico to help out a Native American family with their home construction. At Riv-R-Land Estates, I helped get rid of sandbags. We set up an assembly line of sorts to move sandbags away from the house to the street. For over two and a half hours, our line moved over 500 bags. I like doing this kind of work because it allows me to personally be the arms and legs of Jesus. Helping people is my strongest passion so I saw Into the Streets as a privilege.”
Morningside freshman Alex Struck volunteered at Council on Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence. “About 20 of us from the tennis team stained a deck and fence, distributed brochures, swept the sidewalk, and cleaned baby toys. It all created a great sense of accomplishment inside of me because we helped them out quite a bit.”
Another Morningside junior, Ryan Schneider, described his experience, one that was different than most groups. As a member of the music fraternity on campus, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Ryan and his fellow Sinfonians sang for residents at the Northern Hills Retirement Community. “I realized that helping people isn’t always about lifting or doing hard work, but it’s ultimately about helping other people and brightening their days. As a group, I think we accomplished that.”
Regardless of the type of work involved, Jackie Lincoln was extremely thankful for all of the hard work people put in. “I have received several e-mails and phone calls from people thanking us for what we did. I also talked to some of these people during some of the activities and some were in tears because they were so impressed with our students.”
The Morningside College community came together like a family for Into the Streets this year, and the Siouxland community can be very thankful for that. This year’s Into the Streets was a huge success when considering the record number of students. The hard work of nearly 800 students has not gone unnoticed, and the people of Sioux City are extremely thankful for that.