Several Kent State alumni gathered at Habitat for Humanity in Kent on Saturday to participate in the annual Alumni Day of Service by helping with outdoor landscaping, moving furniture inside the stores and more.

The Kent State Alumni Association has hosted this event for several years, and they have locations for alumni to attend all over the state and country, including New York and California.

Diana Richardson, senior IT user support analyst and Kent State alumna 2010, has been attending the event every year since she graduated and said she always enjoys it.

“It’s just a way to give back to the community,” she said. “I like that it’s scheduled through alumni, so you know where you’re going and what you’re doing. I’ve been fortunate to get what I’ve received from the community and it feels great to give back.”

Some alumni have just now been finding about the Alumni Day of Service, and for Jamie Sredinski, Kent State alumna 2001, it was the first year for her and her husband.

“I think this is a great way to give back to the community that I came from,” Sredinski said. “Since I’m a Kent resident it was really nice and convenient to help out. I really hope the event keeps growing and we find more and more locations for alumni to give their service.”

Michael Bruder, Kent State alumnus 1993, has been attending the Alumni Day of Service for several years and said that it’s great to be back in the area again.

“It feels great to help my community, and they do great work putting this together,” Bruder said. “I would tell all future alumni to get involved with something like this because it’s a really easy way to get back and you feel really good about yourself.”

The Alumni Association puts together events like this to help alumni stay connected.Richardson said it’s great to meet other alumni that she can tell stories with and simply just hang out for a day.

“It gives you an opportunity to meet alumni you wouldn’t meet before,” Richardson said. “It gives us a chance to hangout all day and you get to make new friends that you would have never gotten to meet during your time spent at school. I hope the Alumni Association keeps doing things like this for years to come.”

Contact Justin Graci at [email protected].