On August 26, more than 600 University of Georgia students participated in Dawg Day of Service, a periodic event that allows students to serve Athens-Clarke County and surrounding communities. The program is UGA’s largest annual day of student service and is celebrating its tenth year.
Students helping in the garden at Athens Community Council on Aging.
Coordinated by Serve UGA, Service Ambassadors and IMPACT Service Breaks, student-led groups in UGA Student Affairs’ department of Engagement, Leadership and Service, the students spread out across 36 sites throughout the morning, assisting with various tasks from cleaning spaces for people experiencing homelessness, to writing cards to memory care patients, to planting gardens.
Each year, the student leaders aim to grow the number of sites and diversity of service, along with the numbers of students serving, and this year’s participation set records for number of sites and students serving. Several student organizations participated, including ACM-W girls.code(), Black Affairs Council, Alpha Sigma Phi, ASL Dawgs, Filipino Student Association, Phi Beta Sigma, Phi Kappa Literary Society, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., RISE, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., University Union, UGA Homecoming, UGA NAACP, the Graduate Student Association, the Student Financial Planning Association, and the Black Felicity Student Association.
Students volunteered their time at the Athens Area Homeless Shelter. (Submitted photo)
Some of the community partners have long-standing relationships with UGA students serving with them, including Oasis Católico, Hope Haven, and Books for Keeps, among others. Students served a wider geographic area this year, with opportunities expanding into neighboring Madison and Oconee counties.
Students also had the option to serve on campus, including student support initiatives like the UGA Period Project, Bulldog Basics, the Disability Resource Center, and the Professional Clothing Closet. Several of these projects occurred in the Tate Student Center Grand Hall to make participating as easy as possible for student volunteers. Additionally, student could participate in digital volunteer projects, including making coloring sheets for children whose families use the Athens Area Diaper Bank.
Director Sejal Khanna, Service Ambassador Kayla Borchers and Hairy Dawg. (Submitted photo)
Cara Winston Simmons, the founder of Bulldog Basics and the director of the Division of Academic Enhancement, commenced the morning with a speech to all of the volunteers before they departed for their service locations.
Students served the following sites:
- Athens Area Diaper Bank
- Athens Area Homeless Shelter
- Athens Community Council on Aging
- Athens Land Trust (Williams Farm)
- Athens-Clarke County Animal Services
- Bear Hollow Zoo
- Bigger Vision of Athens
- Bishop Park Cleanup – FARMRX 5k
- Books for Keeps
- Brightpaths/Prevent Child Abuse Athens
- Broad River Watershed Association
- Brooklyn Cemetery
- Bulldog Basics
- Butterfly Dreams Farm
- Disability Resource Center
- Family Promise of Athens
- Fowler Drive Elementary
- Georgia Museum of Art
- Hope Haven of Northeast Georgia
- Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful
- Keep Oconee County Beautiful
- Latin American Ethnobotanical Garden
- Lydia’s Place
- Lyndon House Arts Center
- McPhaul Center Child Development Lab
- Memory Care at Highland Hills
- Oasis Tutoring Center
- Oconee Forest Park
- Professional Clothing Closet
- Mary’s Hospital
- Stroud Elementary
- Sweet Olive Farm Animal Rescue
- Trial Gardens
- UGA Period Project
- Wesley Woods of Athens
- Whit Davis Elementary
