By KATE PIERCE
News Editor
Reach Out Saint Rose is celebrating it’s 21st year as a tradition here at the College with over 900 Saint Rose students, faculty and alumni spending their day giving back to the community in a day of service this Saturday, Sep. 10.
Joan Horgan, Director of Campus Ministry, has been helping to organize the event since the very first year. A graduate assistant named Beth Corrou was the one who brought the idea for Reach Out to Horgan, as she had participated in a similar event at a different college when she was an undergraduate student.
“The first couple years we had between 80 to 160 people,” said Horgan. During the early years, volunteers would be able to choose which organization out of ten that they would prefer to volunteer for. Now there are so many volunteers, Horgan and the other organizers have to lean on people’s willingness to go where they are sent and to make the best of it.
This year there are 52 organizations that will benefit from the day, with several being first time organizations and others Reach Out veterans. Assignments range from yard work to meal preparation to just spending time with children or senior citizens and helping them to have a happy experience and a great day.
The day will kick off with a check in at 8:30 a.m., with resident students checking in at the main dining hall, and other volunteers checking in at the Main Lounge in the EAC. After check in, volunteers will head to the Daniel P. Nolan gymnasium to receive their free Reach Out shirts, some breakfast food and their bus assignment. At 9:00 a.m. the mayor of Albany, Kathy Sheehan, is scheduled to welcome the volunteers and commence the day of service.
From the gymnasium, volunteers will leave for their bus assignments, and expect to be working until around 12:30 p.m. They will then return to the gym for a celebration with free pizza and tables where they can find out more about how they can participate in community service throughout the year.
Organizers ask that volunteers please wear closed-toed shoes that day, as many assignments will require them. Volunteers can expect to hear more information via email by Thursday, Sep. 8.
Reach Out Saint Rose is an event that Horgan believes to embody the mission of the Sisters who founded the College to help thy dear neighbor. “They purposely wanted to be in a city with a lot of need, to be able to help as many people as they could,” she said.
Around 2007, there was a bigger push to turn Reach Out into the campus-wide event that it is today. During that time, Residence Life staff became involved, and resident assistants would sign up for a team with their floor or hall and consider the event as one of their programs.
“There was some pressure to turn Reach Out into a program for freshmen,” said Horgan. “I couldn’t stand to tell upperclassmen who had been involved for years that they couldn’t come anymore.”
The year that the tradition of free Reach Out t-shirts was introduced, there were around 400 volunteers.
Every year, Horgan is pleasantly surprised by the amount of volunteers who show up to make a difference.“I was always the naysayer,” she said. “Every year I thought, ‘We’re tapped out of community service!’ but each year we have more and more volunteers.”
In addition to the service of volunteers, Reach Out is supported by organizations like MVP, who made a monetary donation to this year’s cause, and Stewart’s, who donated juice for the breakfast spread that will be available in the gymnasium. In years past there have been other organizations, like GE, and alumni who have supported the endeavor of community service.
“My hope is that through this opportunity, volunteers can start to wonder how they can make a commitment to someone or some purpose,” said Horgan.
Horgan said that sometimes an assignment at Reach Out can feel meaningless to volunteers. Sometimes volunteers may ask themselves – does this matter? Horgan wholeheartedly believes that no matter what assignment a volunteer is working on it, does make a difference, on both the community and ourselves.
“No matter what you’re doing you’re adding to a spirit of goodness. Someone may see you in the community and think to themselves that they might want to help make a difference too – all of it adds to a good feeling,” said Horgan. “And you don’t have to do it alone!”
Addressing students who are participating in Reach Out for the first time, Horgan said, “Appreciate yourself for jumping into what Saint Rose is all about.”
