The Christian Service Center of Abilene welcomed the help of ACU students Saturday for one of two service activities that began a month-long “Celebration of Service.”

The Service Action Leadership Team organized the first annual Celebration of Service to recognize those on campus who participate in volunteer activities and to encourage more people to get involved.

One SALT group assisted the Freedom Fellowship Church’s children’s ministry on Saturday while Jonathan Holmes, junior social work major from Los Angeles, and several other SALT volunteers helped at the Christian Service Center.

“This is an agency that donates clothes and stuff,” Holmes said. “We help give it to people in need.”

Karissa Sherry, junior advertising and public relations major from Sherman and a SALT officer, said SALT has been planning this celebration since last semester as a way to encourage faculty and students alike to help out groups in the community.

“Our purpose is to have students lead the campus in service and encourage them to get their friends and organizations they are part of involved also,” said Sherry. “We want to lead by example to promote service.”

Nancy Coburn, director of Volunteer and Service-Learning Center, said many individuals on campus are already involved in some form of service through athletics teams, student organizations, academic departments and individual initiative. Monday Chapels this month will acknowledge these individuals as a way to thank them for the service they are already doing.

Coburn said that, oftentimes, people who want to serve do not necessarily want to organize their own service projects. A lot of the projects have given students the opportunity to plug in to planned service activities.

“Sometimes they’ll go to one of the events or projects that SALT has planned and they fall in love with what they’re doing. It really touches their heart in some way and they keep going,” Coburn said.

Every Saturday, apart from Easter weekend, is packed full of projects that reach out to causes involving the elderly, children, homeless, global outreaches and manual labor, Coburn said.

The opportunities range from helping with an Easter egg hunt at the College Heights Friendship House to assisting Nepalese women as they sell their handiwork at Eternal Threads.

A complete list of this month’s activities and times can be found on the ACU Celebration of Service’s Facebook page.

Opportunities to get involved:

April 9-

• Care Inn of Abilene
• Eternal Threads
• Hope Haven soccer tournament
• Global Samaritan
• G.V. Daniels Rec Center

April 16-

• AISD Early Childhood Centers, Headstart childcare
• Abilene Kite Festival
• International Rescue Committee, Easter egg hunt
• Abilene Sports Youth Authority, basketball tournament
• College Heights Friendship House, Easter egg hunt
• G.V. Daniels, Recreation Center

April 30-

• Ben Richey Boys Ranch, Clay Shoot
• Highland Mothers of Preschoolers, childcare
• Neighbor for Neighbor, Cookout