Student group recruiting 800 volunteers for MLK day

This fall, Student Leaders for Service (SLS) is helping to organize the 11th annual Martin Luther King Service Day. The goal of SLS is to draw 800 or more student volunteers to the event.

Students and community members can participate in direct service on campus and across the Portland area.

The largest student-led service project in the nation gathered at Concordia University last year; 200 of the 1,200 students there were from Portland State.

This year, the rally will be held at PSU’s Stott Center. Guests at the rally will listen to PSU President Wim Wiewel and other inspirational speakers. After the speeches, volunteers will go out to perform communiy service.

Megan Jensen, SLS member and MLK Service Day planning subcommittee member, has led the event for the past three years. For her, the meaning of the holiday is most appreciated through volunteer work.

Last year, Jensen and her SLS colleagues worked to recruit volunteers through student group outreach, classroom visits and by utilizing campus media outlets. This year’s efforts, however, are more ambitious as SLS tries to reach the mark of 800 participants.

SLS is partnering with ASPSU and will reach out to its various networks. SLS is also offering a recruitment challenge for all student groups and organizations.

The challenge will allow students to give credit to student groups who have recruited them for the MLK Service Day. The group responsible for recruiting the most volunteers will be rewarded a pizza party for up to 40 people.

Jensen hopes that the Service Day will uphold Dr. King’s memory.

“For me, experiencing over 1,000 people coming together to show solidarity in honor of Dr. King’s legacy is an experience in both humility and personal empowerment,” she said.

The Service Day will be Monday, Jan. 17, 2011, on MLK day. A group from the Multicultural Center will organize events each day for the rest of the week in association with PSU’s MLK week.

Students will be able to choose a category of volunteering: the environment, health, hunger, homelessness, education and religious matters. Jensen hopes that students who volunteer will feel the same passion she does.

SLS will provide transportation, lunch and t-shirts for PSU students and community volunteers who register through the website. Training for people interested in leading a service project will also be offered.

Students who are interested in service can register on the SLS website at www.pdx.edu/cae/slsevents.html.?