by Nicole Acton '16

On May 3, more than 100 students spent their Saturday volunteering as part of the Knox College Day of Service, an annual event sponsored by service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega and the Kleine Center for Community Service.

Throughout the day, volunteers engaged with the community through various Galesburg organizations. Students volunteered at 11 locations including Safe Harbor Family Crisis Center, Prairie Players Civic Theatre, the Galesburg Public Library, and Saint Mary's Assisted Living Homes.

Additionally, Knox's chapter of Mortar Board, a national honor society, sponsored a Kids Carnival, which included 22 clubs and organizations and brought 300 Galesburg families to the Knox Campus. (In above image, a student volunteer paints faces as part of the Mortar Board's Kids Carnival.)

More than 50 participants ran and walked in Alpha Phi Omega's Run-A-Thon for the Humane Society. The fraternity also helped out throughout the day by guiding volunteers to and from off-campus sites, administering surveys about the volunteer experience, and tabling at events. Chase Skarda '15, vice president of APO and Day of Service coordinator, was excited that the Day of Service brought Knox and the Galesburg community together.

"Students went out to places in Galesburg to plant flowers, paint houses, and more," said Skarda. "And people brought their kids to the campus to make dippin dots with Chemistry Club and shoot water guns at TKE brothers, and almost every other club had a booth for Mortar Board's carnival."

This coming weekend, students will be heading out into the community again for the United Way of Knox County 2014 Day of Caring, where they will be landscaping, painting, and cleaning at locations throughout the region.

Photo coverage of Knox College Day of Service . Full-screen and captions available in a set at the Knox College Flickr channel.