Let the buses roll: Mercyhurst gears up for traditional Day of Service

Mercyhurst President Kathleen A. Getz, Ph.D., will do the official send-off when the university’s newest students gather in the Mary Garden on Monday, Aug. 22, at 9:30 a.m. for the annual Day of Service.

This traditional Welcome Week service project is for all first-year students, faculty/staff facilitators, and Laker Leaders. Participants gather for an opening ceremony before boarding 12 yellow school buses that will take them across Erie County to deliver an estimated 1,400 hours of service.

Students will volunteer at 20 regional nonprofit sites, among them SafeNet, Erie Zoo, Bethesda Trinity Center, Mercy Hilltop Center, Presque Isle State Park, and the Community of Caring Shelter.

Overseeing the annual event is Bethany Woods, assistant director of Community Engagement, who said students will be doing indoor and outdoor painting, neighborhood cleanups, weeding and watering gardens, and rebuilding fencing, to name just a few activities.