As thousands of Americans answer President Barack Obama's call to honor the victims of September 11 through service this week, more than 600 members of the Bowdoin community will participate in service projects across the country on Saturday during the 11th annual Common Good Day.
While Common Good Day falls earlier this year than in the past, the number of participants exceeds any from previous years, according to Common Good Day Fellow Jess Britt '10, who spent her summer at Bowdoin organizing the event.
"The enthusiasm has been growing every year and now we've just broken the 600 mark," she said.
Common Good Day began 11 years ago as a hands-on way for the Bowdoin community to engage with what the first president of the College, Joseph McKeen, said at its opening in 1802: "...literary institutions are founded and endowed for the common good, and not for the private advantage of those who resort to them for education."
"This is the most literal way in which Bowdoin students embrace the common good," Britt said.
This year's activities will not only include 60 projects in the Brunswick and Bowdoin community, but also projects in eight other cities across the country that will bring together more than 200 Bowdoin alumni and parents.
Volunteers will participate in a range of activities from trail work and servicing Bowdoin's fleet of communal yellow bikes to visiting with residents at assisted living homes. One group will create a public service announcement for Portland's Community Television Network.
"I hope students will take advantage of this opportunity to be exposed to different organizations in the community and go back to them later in the year to volunteer," Britt said.
A variety of participants make up the record number of volunteers that will be performing service tomorrow.
A number of pre-orientation groups, first-year floors, five sports teams and several groups of friends constitute many of the Bowdoin student participants.
But while most participants in the Brunswick-based projects are Bowdoin students and alumni, one volunteer is making a special trip to the area for the occasion.
Karen Gordon Mills, President Barry Mills' wife and the head of President Obama's Small Business Administration, will participate in Common Good Day as a way to respond to Obama's call to service.
"All the people involved in his staff and his administration are going out to do service this week, and Karen Gordon Mills is coming here to do hers," Britt said.
Two students, Brooks Winner '10 and Mary Ellen Hearn '11, are spearheading a new project for kids aged eight to 13 called Eco-Quest.
According to Winner, the group will start at the Sidney J. Watson arena and work its way through the woods toward the Town Commons in Brunswick on an "environmental scavenger hunt," during which kids will identify different trees, flowers, and wildlife in order to learn more about the environment and their surroundings.
Nearly 200 Bowdoin alumni will also participate in projects in cities across the country including Denver, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Boston, and Philadelphia. In addition, alumni in Los Angeles and Seattle have organized projects for the first time. A date for service in New York is set for the end of September at the Harlem Children's Zone, run by Geoffrey Canada '74.
"It goes to show that people are really interested in doing service work and working with alumni," Assistant Director of Alumni Relations Liz Mengesha '06 said.
Common Good Day kicks off tomorrow morning with registration in Farley Field House, performances by Bowdoin student musicians and opening remarks from Gordon Mills and David Hunter '59, a leadership development trainer for business, especially hospitals.
"He'll speak about how the common good has formed his life after Bowdoin and why he thinks it should be something students should take into account," Britt said.