The fourth annual SPARTANS WILL. POWER Global Day of Service takes place on Saturday, April 16, 2016 and will feature more than 1,500 Spartans volunteering their time in local communities across the globe.
Michigan State University Spartans have a proud tradition of service and the SPARTANS WILL. POWER Global Day of Service is MSU’s way of showing the world the extraordinary impact Spartans can make in a single day. This organized, collaborative effort brings Spartans together to serve others in their communities while demonstrating the reach and power of the Spartan network.
The Global Day of Service celebrates the ongoing service by individual alumni, local alumni communities and Spartans that coordinate opportunities to give back to the community through their place of work.
Some notable projects include:
- The Los Angeles Spartans will be sorting produce, canned items and non-food items to assemble packages with the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.
- The Chicago Spartans are leading an Adopt-a-Beach™ volunteer day at Montrose Beach and Bird Sanctuary. Spartan volunteers will spend the afternoon beautifying the beach in preparation for spring and collecting data for the Alliance for the Great Lakes.
- The San Francisco Spartans are helping the city of San Francisco reach its goal to create a better experience for residents and visitors entering their city parks, and will be doing various tasks including mulching, planting and cleaning up Lafayette park.
- The Dallas Spartans are partnering with Captain Hope’s Kids, an organization that meets the critical needs of homeless children across North Texas.
- The Detroit Spartans will be planting trees along streets, parks and school grounds to benefit The Greening of Detroit initiative.
- The Denver Spartans are assisting Project Angel Heart, whose mission is to deliver nutritious meals that improve quality of life, at no cost, for those coping with life-threatening illness.
- The Las Vegas Spartans will be working alongside Nevada SPAC, an organization that fights animal cruelty and functions as a no-kill shelter.
- The Spartans of London, England are helping prepare one of London's iconic landmarks, the Venice Canal near Paddington, for the upcoming Canal Cavalcade Festival.
- The Hong Kong Spartans are partnering with the Sovereign Art Foundation to conduct an interactive life-coaching workshop with underprivileged students and serve as their mentors.
- A Spartan in Djougou, Benin will spend the day working with the Peace Corps’ gender equality efforts. The Scholarship Girls Program helps girls to overcome the obstacles they may face by offering one-year, non-renewable scholarships to the most deserving Beninese school girls.
This year will include greater student participation, beginning with the kickoff on April 2 with the MSU Greek community, which will work on 42 projects in the Greater Lansing area. On April 16, there are another 27 projects being planned jointly by the Center for Service Learning and Civic Engagement and the MSU Alumni Association for current MSU students. In total, more than 3,500 students are expected to participate.
For more information on the Service Day projects happening across the globe and how you can get involved, visit serviceday.msu.edu.
