Waking up at 8am on a Saturday isn’t usually the first thing students want to do. However, on October 2nd, 44 students and 13 alumni woke up bright and early to volunteer for the 3rd Make a Difference Day. KU Law students, alumni, and professors all gathered in Green Hall at 9am for breakfast and to receive their assignments for the day.
After eating some donuts and getting their fill of coffee and orange juice, volunteers headed off to projects which included: treating wood playground equipment at Hilltop Childcare Center, painting indoors at Independence Inc., weeding at Woodlawn Elementary, helping care for animals at the Humane Society, gift wrapping presents for the annual Children’s Holiday Shop at the Lawrence Arts Center, and a lot of grueling yard-work at Hidden Valley Girl Scout Camp (special thanks to ILS for volunteering for that!). While the volunteers only made a dent in the amount of help needed in the Lawrence community due to the time constraints, their participation was greatly appreciated. The tasks were done quickly and thoroughly due to the number of volunteers that signed up. An employee at the Lawrence Arts Center expressed how surprised she was at the amount of work the volunteers were able to accomplish in the few hours they were there.
SBA helped plan the event with Noelle Uhler, Director of External Relations. It is wonderful to see people, who are normally too busy to really take care of themselves, volunteering to wake up early and go help others. In this area of concentration it is easy to lose sight of the big picture. Through Make a Difference Day, KU Law was able to reach out and prove to others, and ourselves, that we have the dedication and commitment to make a change in the lives of others, no matter how big or small.
Natasha Das, 3L