By Chelsea Hackney, Student Reporter
The Service Action Leadership Team is celebrating the 10th anniversary of ACU for Abilene on Saturday by doing what it does best: service. Students will spend the morning at 13 different sites, from the Food Bank to the zoo, as they strive to make an impact on the Abilene community.
Many student groups, including several social clubs, have come together for this annual event, setting up their own service projects as part of the day’s activities. Courtney Patterson, senior business management and marketing major from Orlando, Fla., and co-chair of the event, said SALT is planning on a turnout of 150-200 students, partly because of the diversity of the groups involved.
This year’s event is intended to be better than previous ones. Instead of everyone scattering to their respective sites and going home at noon, everyone involved is invited to return to campus for a free lunch and live entertainment in the Mall area in front of Moody Coliseum. Although only volunteers can eat, the rest of the event is open to the entire student body.
To help pull it off, SALT partnered with Wishing Well, an organization that provides clean water to people in Africa and has a large following on campus. Both organizations saw this as an opportunity to bring together a diverse group of students for a common purpose. In fact, the theme of this year’s event is United, based on Psalms 133:1.
“That was one of the first things we started with,” Patterson said. “We really liked the idea of everyone coming together and serving in unity.”
During the concert in the Mall area, some student organizations, including TOMS shoes and Handbags of Hope, will have booths set up for students to visit. The goal is to bring together all kinds of service opportunities, both in the Abilene community and worldwide, said Maegan Terrell, sophomore social work major from Garland and co-chair of ACU for Abilene.
“This will be an event that people walk away from thinking, ‘I actually did something productive with my day,’ ” said Casey Monsees, junior history major from Denver and co-director of Wishing Well.
Wishing Well looks for people with a strong desire to serve, she said.
Not only does SALT want to bring different service organizations together, but more importantly, it wants to draw together students with servant hearts.
“Our challenge to ACU this year was to get more people involved, especially clubs and groups, instead of each of us being a single entity,” Terrell said. “When it comes down to it, it isn’t about us; it isn’t about SALT; it isn’t even really about ACU. It’s about God.”
Students can sign up for ACU for Abilene in the Campus Center from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Service sites will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. T-shirts designed by 25 Cloth also can be purchased for $8, and the proceeds go to feed families in developing countries. The event begins at 8 a.m. and lasts until 4 p.m.
