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| Members of the Alfred University Cheer Team take a break from sealing the Mike Kenyon Children’s Park in Alfred to share a photo with President Mark Zupan, Vice President for University Advancement Jason Amore, Kara Amore, and Kathy Sherman |
Celebrate Service, Celebrate Allegany held it eighth community service event in September and October. In past years, a single day of service was held on the fourth Saturday of October, marked as national Make a Difference Day. This year, administrators from all three campuses decided to extend the celebration over four weeks to allow for more service opportunities for students and greater flexibility for community partners.
Nearly 400 students from the three institutions of higher education in Allegany County went out into local communities and engaged in service projects.
Alfred University kicked off Celebrate Service, Celebrate Allegany 2019 with a day of service on Saturday, Sept. 28, recognized as National Good Neighbor Day. Fifty-five Alfred University students, including members of the Cheer Team and the Caribbean Student Association, worked with community members on five service projects in three communities.
Good Neighbor Day projects included resealing the Mike Kenyon Children’s Park, painting the A.E. Crandall Hook & Ladder Company fire station, scraping and repainting the ramp and deck of the Baker’s Bridge Historical Association, doing yard work for the Almond Rural Cemetery Association, and landscaping and installing storm windows for the Alfred Box of Books Library.
Houghton College followed with its celebration on October 21 with a week of service and community-building projects, focused in the northern and western communities of Allegany County. Alfred State College students concluded the month-long service celebration on Saturday, October 26, in southern Allegany County and Hornell.
Celebrate Service, Celebrate Allegany’s expanded reach was a success, and Alfred University’s service celebration continued both regionally and internationally.
Alfred University’s Athletics Department is continually involved in community service, and this fall participated in projects serving several local communities. The Saxon men’s soccer team volunteers every other weekend at the Hornell Are Humane Society. Head Men’s Soccer Coach Tracy Blake explained that student athletes work in shifts so that the whole team contributes to the Humane Society each month. The men’s basketball team hosted a children’s basketball clinic in Arkport on Nov. 2; the women’s basketball team held a community leaf raking event on Nov. 3, and plans to volunteer their support for Elderwood residents, the Hornell YMCA, reading in local schools, and cancer awareness.
Alfred University student organizations and professor of geology Michele Hluchy’s Water Planet class have also been raising money for the Puerto Rico Water Project. Funds raised will be used to install a well in a community recovering from damage caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017. The Caribbean Student Association held a dinner on Sept. 28, to raise money for Water for Puerto Rico and to share delicious Caribbean food with the greater Alfred community.
The Water Planet class holds bake sales on campus every Thursday and recently hosted a NBA 2K20 video game tournament fundraiser. The class also held a rummage sale on Nov. 2 and raised $590, with all unsold items donated to local charities. Additional Water for Puerto Rico fundraisers include a Puerto Rico bowl on Thursday, Nov. 14, with food available for sale in handmade bowls made by art students; a raffle; a dodgeball tournament; and the AU Polar Plunge for Puerto Rico at Foster Lake on Nov. 24.
In the eight years that Celebrate Service, Celebrate Allegany has been observed, more than 2,700 students from Alfred University, Alfred State and Houghton College have contributed over 12,200 hours of service to organizations and community projects in Allegany County.
