First Service Saturday of the semester is on the horizon

MerServe aims to heighten community involvement among students this year by hosting monthly Service Saturdays, which will place student volunteers in contact with local non-profits in need of aid.  

The first Service Saturday is to be held Sept. 26 and will take place between 8:30 a.m. and noon.  Students who volunteer will organize outside of the Fresh Food Company Saturday morning and will be sent out to various non-profit organizations in Macon.

MerServe is targeting five different organizations for this upcoming Service Saturday: Rebuilding Macon, The Village Green Community Garden, Daybreak, Brave Meadows, and Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful.  

Those who volunteer for Rebuilding Macon will finish painting a home for a low-income resident while those who travel to the Village Green Community Garden will assist in maintaining the plants there.  

Other volunteers will travel to Daybreak, a center for the homeless, or to Brave Meadows, a therapeutic horse riding center.  According to their website, Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful will use its volunteers to work towards their goal of creating a “cleaner, greener Macon.”

MerServe is hoping to recruit 50-60 student volunteers for the upcoming Service Saturday. Students interested in serving the community through this program can send their inquiries via email to mercermerserve@gmail.com.  

“The board really allows you to reach out, to become engaged, and to blur the lines between Mercer University and the surrounding community,” said Rochelle Heard, Mercer junior and co-chair of MerServe.  “We would love to have as many people come out as possible.”