GC celebrates 100 years in Goshen with day of community service Sept. 24

GOSHEN, Ind. -- The majority of Goshen College's campus will choose serving the community over studying in classes Sept. 24 during the college's annual Celebrate Service Day. Students, faculty and staff will be volunteering a day of work for 26 agencies and organizations throughout Elkhart County and Southern Michigan.

To celebrate 100 years of Goshen College in Goshen, one group of students, faculty and staff volunteers will help build the 100^th Habitat for Humanity house in Elkhart County, at 1610 William Henry Lane, in the Harrison Ridge development, outside of Goshen.

Other jobs and locations include:

* Pat McFarlane, associate professor of communication, is leading her class of first-year students to Greencroft in Goshen to meet with elderly residents and share readings with each other. 1820 Greencroft Boulevard

* A group will prepare school kits for Iraqi children, boil clothes and clean at Mennonite Central Committee: The Depot, 1013 Division St., Goshen.

* About 20 students will produce and prepare spices and stock for mixes at Soup of Success, 629 S. Third St., Elkhart.

* Five groups will assist elderly or disabled persons at their homes with painting, cleaning and raking through REAL Services agency.

* A group will help create a bike trail for the Goshen Parks Department.

* Groups will be volunteering at Amigo Centre and Camp Friedenswald in southern Michigan.

After a day of service, the volunteers will return to campus for a picnic on the Music Center plaza, followed by a "Celebration of Life through Music" concert in Sauder Hall, Goshen College Music Center, at 6:30 p.m., featuring Goshen College choirs and instrumentalists and celebrating the lives of area cancer survivors and the completion of a day of service. Admission is free. The day will end with an ice cream social at 7:30 p.m. on the Music Center plaza, with a time for sharing about volunteer experiences.

Bill Carnegie, president and CEO of Northern Indiana Food Bank, will open the week with a speech titled "A Call to Service" at 10 a.m. Sept. 22 in Goshen College's Church-Chapel.

Following the college's motto since 1904, "Culture for Service," students will listen to agency directors explain the community's needs so that they may learn larger life lessons from those they try to serve. In the four years since the annual program began, more than 1,750 Goshen faculty, staff and students have served the community on this day, but Goshen's service is more than a one-day event Ð more than half of the college's students volunteer at area agencies throughout the school year.

For online information on Celebrate Service Day, including a list of service locations, see https://www.goshen.edu/careerserv/students/service/celebrate.shtml.

Goshen College is a national liberal arts college known for leadership in international education, service-learning and peace and justice issues in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program and exceptional educational value, GC serves more than 1,000 students in both traditional and nontraditional programs. The college earned citations of excellence in U.S. News & World Report and Barron's Best Buys in Higher Education. For more information, visit the college's Web site at https://www.goshen.edu/.

Editors: For information or to schedule interviews and photos during Celebrate Service Day, contact Jodi H. Beyeler at jodihb@goshen.edu or (574) 535-7572.

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