This Saturday, roughly 400 Bowdoin students will spend 12,000 hours participating in community service activities throughout Maine. This is the sixth year that the Community Service Resource Center (CSRC) has organized Common Good Day, and the second year that Coordinator of Community Service Programs Caitlin MacDonald and CSRC Director Susan Dorn are in charge of the program.
The duo made more connections during the past year and have drawn upon these community affiliations to initiate new service activities. This year, students will work in Bath, Brunswick, Topsham, Freeport, Portland, Boothbay, and Georgetown.
"We'll be bussing people all over Maine!" MacDonald said.
In past years, approximately 350 students have volunteered on Common Good Day. Last year, 250 students participated, but both Dorn and MacDonald have higher expectations for this Saturday. According to MacDonald, more student activity groups and sports teams have volunteered this year. Dorn also said that many students who volunteered last year will return and bring friends with them.
"We already have 400 volunteers," Dorn said, "including faculty members and their families."
In addition to student and faculty participants, Bowdoin alumni will take part in Common Good Day for the first time. All across the country, Bowdoin alumni are organizing various service projects, including a blood drive in Boston, landscaping in Denver, coastal clean up in southern California, and park clean up in Washington, D.C.
Bowdoin has a rich history of community service; Common Good Day was inspired by the words of Joseph McKeen during his inaugural address in 1802. However, community service days are not unique to Bowdoin. Many other colleges organize a day full of events that give back to the community; some schools, like Springfield College in Massachusetts, even schedule community service days in the middle of the week and cancel classes. According to MacDonald, it is somewhat limiting to have Common Good Day on Saturdays.
"Most organizations close on the weekend, so students will have similar 'behind-the-scenes' projects," she explained.
Not all students will perform glamorous activities this year; many will do yard work and general cleaning to help local organizations. However, the CSRC has organizedmany new projects for this year, including harvesting and donating vegetables at Bowdoin's organic garden on Pleasant Hill Road, apple picking and apple pie making with mentally and physically handicapped adults, and painting faces, serving food, and assisting artists at the annual Family Arts Festival in Brunswick.
Dorn and MacDonald hope that Common Good Day will pique students' interest in helping the community and help students see the connection between academics and community service.