Tiger Serve Day is just around the corner. The bi-annual event will see its spring session taking place on Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. The event offers students, faculty and staff a chance to volunteer in the community for a day, opting to assist members of the community with various tasks that they may not be able to complete.
Tiger Serve Day is open to all students at Ouachita. Volunteers will create teams or sign up as individuals and then visit various project locations to serve the community.
“This is a huge service to our community, because many of these individuals and non-profits served are not able to do this work themselves and often times cannot afford to hire the workers,” said Judy Duvall, the assistant director of the Elrod Center.
Students can expect a vast array of assigned tasks. There will be plenty of physical tasks, such as raking, trimming bushes, cleaning windows, painting, indoor cleaning and much more. Students also have the opportunity to connect with their service project recipient and build relationships with them that last.
Esther Horton, a junior business administration and finance major from Arkadelphia, has requested to work the same project the past couple of years.
“I request the same project each year because the ladies we have served in the past ask us to! Tiger Serve Day helps us keep up that relationship, since my team has already set aside that time to get together to help and talk to the person we’re currently serving,” said Horton.
Horton and her team have served Cleola McDill, an elderly resident of Arkadelphia, for the past two years. Through TSD, Horton’s team has gotten to know McDill and is able to visit with her often.
“The first time we worked for her, we were all a little unsure about how much to talk and how much to work, but the next time, we felt a lot more comfortable taking the time to talk to her and asking if she needed help on things not listed as well,” Horton said. The team has since swapped prayer requests with McDill and seen their volunteering and its effects first-hand.
“My favorite part is getting to know the person we’re serving. All of the ladies we have served are so appreciative of the little things we do for them around the house, but I don’t know if they realize how much they do for us. Every time I’ve worked for Mrs. Cleola or in previous years Mrs. Holcomb, I feel like I’m the one benefitting because of how wise they both are,” Horton said.
Students volunteering have the opportunity to make lasting connections and relations within Arkadelphia during their time as students at Ouachita.
“Tiger Serve Day is a good reminder to our university and our community that we really do need each other and we have a lot to gain by joining together in friendship and service,” Duvall said.
– By Will Blase, staff writer
