Serve Week strives for unity through service

Members of the University community will be painting, playing tennis and collecting money next week as part of Project SERVE's Serve Week 1999.

Serve Week activities, scheduled to begin April 5 and end April 10, are aimed at unifying the campus through service projects. The goal is to encourage individual students and student groups to become involved in various organizations in the Ann Arbor area.

LSA senior Spencer Preis, Serve Week's volunteer information and placement team chair, said another aim of the program is to bring together different groups on campus and encourage them to contribute to the greater community.

"We try to get groups together that normally wouldn't get together," Preis said.

Project Serve is also working in conjunction with Diversity Days to provide an educational theme for each day of service. Topics include religion and spirituality, sexual orientation, gender issues, disabilities and race and ethnicity. Two of the week's main events include the Love to Serve Tennis Tournament and a lecture by Jesse Jackson, both planned for on April 9. The proceeds from the tennis tournament will be donated to the charity chosen by the winning team.

The idea for Serve Week stemmed from the national program Into the Streets, in which volunteers serve a community for one day. The program was implemented in Ann Arbor 11 years ago, extending the one day of service to one week.

Some participants will work in the Ann Arbor Options Center, which provides support groups and employment opportunities for at risk men, women, children and individuals being released from prison. Program Coordinator Linda Hiller said the participants will be painting the interior of the center.

Hiller said that without the manpower provided by Serve Week, this year's renovations would not be possible.

"Since we're a non-profit organization, we wouldn't be able to pay for the place to be painted," she said.

Hiller said the center is grateful for Serve Week's involvement.

"The renovations will make the environment more pleasant for the children," Hiller said.

LSA junior Sabrina Kidd, a member of the Serve Week Leadership Team, said there are more than 20 project sites this year.

"The number of people involved this year has exceeded our expectations," Kidd said. "There are about 50 campus groups participating."

Kidd said she hopes the Serve Week experience inspires individuals to do more service throughout the year.

"We want to raise awareness of diversity and service issues on this campus and in the local community," she said.

Another beneficiary of the week's events is the Alzheimer's Association. Serve Week will provide volunteers to assist with the annual Alzheimer's Tag Days on April 9 and 10. Volunteers will hand out tags to provide information about the disease and the association's programs and services. The volunteers will also collect money through a bucket drive.

Alan Esper, the Alzheimer's Association special events coordinator, said the money raised will fund local projects in Washtenaw County. Esper said that each year the monetary goal is surpassed.

"Last year we raised about $5,500. This year we should exceed that number since the Greek system is working our seven additional sites this year," Esper said.

04-01-99