National Make a Difference Day is an event on the fourth Saturday of October where volunteers across the nation work to make a positive change in the community. This year, Kent State partnered with multiple local volunteer groups to make a difference across Portage County.
After a welcome program in the Center for Undergraduate Excellence, students were divided into five groups based on the volunteer opportunities they signed up for.
The opportunities included creating T-shirt tote bags for Flashes Fighting Hunger, designing literacy kits for children learning to read, gardening at Walls Elementary School Garden, cleaning up litter in downtown Kent and working at the Happy Trails Farm Animal Sanctuary.
The literary kit opportunity in the Student Center, directed by the United Way of Portage County, was meant to instill a love of reading in young children, and get books into homes where they may not otherwise be.
Barbara Boltz, a volunteer with the United Way of Portage County and a retired university staff member of 40 years, said she is grateful for Kent State’s part in Make a Difference Day.
“I think that the Kent State students and staff and alumni have helped keep this program going,” she said. “We would not be able to do it without them.”
Meanwhile, in downtown Kent, students were not the only group of volunteers doing their part. Partnered alongside them was Main Street Kent, an organization dedicated to maintaining the downtown area and handling things like cleanup days, art projects and promoting small businesses.
Heather Malarcik, executive director for Main Street Kent, said Kent State reached out to join them on their most recent cleanup day.
“So we chose our cleanup day based on the fact that they had their Make a Difference Day scheduled for today,” she said. “So, there’s 10 to 12 students and people affiliated with the university downtown cleaning up graffiti and picking up litter and doing all kinds of things to help make our downtown beautiful.”
Chris Conry, local resident and Kent alumnus, emphasized the importance of community involvement and how keeping the downtown area clean is a group effort.
“I think having a nice, walkable, approachable downtown area is not something that comes for free,” he said. “It’s something we all have to kind of chip in and take care of, so we all benefit from how nice it is. So, we should give a little bit back.”
Emilio Hernandez is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].
Michael Neenan is a KSTV reporter. Contact him at [email protected].
