Commit to Serve at UNO's 10th Annual Seven Days of Service

Calling all volunteers! The University of Nebraska at Omaha’s (UNO's) 10th Annual 7 Days of Service is just around the corner. Are you interested in restoring or building a new home? Creating a community garden? Beautifying Omaha parks and nonprofits? Providing service to organizations that specialize in homelessness and poverty? If so, 7 Days of Service is the perfect service opportunity for you. Activities will officially kick off on Saturday, March 17, and continue the week of UNO's spring break Monday through Saturday, March 19-24. 

Brian & I (far left) with some of the crew from UNO.

Since its inception in 2003, UNO students have chosen to forgo their spring break plans and donate their time serving their community as part of UNO’s 7 Days of Service project. Two population-we™ staffers participated in the annual 7 Days of Service volunteer effort in Omaha last year. Brian & I didn't just participate, we both served as the job site coordinators. To qualify, we attended an hour debriefing before the event and received instructions the day of. We both were in charge of the UNO crew.

Upon arriving we could tell it was going to be a total team effort. Other volunteer organizations met us at the designated site: AmeriCorps, Habitat for Humanity and parishioners from a local church. Armed with the know how and right equipment the heavy lifting was left to the AmeriCorps team. The day consisted of clearing brush and chopping down trees, as well as limbs at a future site for a Habitat for Humanity house in North Omaha. For nearly six hours, chainsaws were spewing, trash was collected, prickly weeds were bagged and poison oak was avoided. This was a day of hard labor; but with a small army of volunteers we finished a head of time.

The mission of 7 Days of Service is to facilitate the building and strengthening of the Omaha community by actively engaging with the community and responding to the urban need. The feeling of accomplishment working together to get this site ready for a house is something Brian & I will never forget. We both recommend getting your hands dirty with this wonderful service project. So far, more than 800 will participate this year, including both Brian & I. Join UNO for a day of teamwork and service; register today!

7 Days of Service projects on tap for 2012:

• Build low-income homes with Habitat for Humanity in Omaha and Council Bluffs;

• Community clean-up projects;

• Assist with multiple Open Door Mission projects;

• Clean and pick up at Stephen's Center;

• Conservation work at Allwine, T.L. Davis and Bauermeister Prairies as well as Lauritzen Gardens;

• Help Adult Services conduct inventory of medical equipment and help with a equipment drive; and

• At South YMCA, work with multiple schools to assist in a clothing drive for those in need.

Volunteer one, two, three, or all seven days by registering on UNO’s website at http://www.unomaha.edu/serve/7dos2012.php. Breakfast, lunch, and T-shirts are provided to all volunteers. Shuttle service is also provided. Check in begins at UNO in the Milo Bail Student Center Fireplace Lounge at 8:15 a.m. The day concludes by 3 p.m. 

Questions or concerns? Contact UNOServe@unomaha.edu or the UNO Office of Student-Community Leadership and Service at 402.554.4083 or stop by 112 College of Public Affairs and Community Service on the UNO campus.

(Editor’s Note: This is the third blog post inspired by our day of volunteer and community service efforts at the 2011 UNO 7 Days of Service. Click on these links, to view other population-we™ posts on Trash Walk and AmeriCorps.)

-population-we™ blog post by Becky Bohan Brown 
© 2012 population-we, LLC 
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