With one event already completed, the spring schedule of Weekend Campaigns is underway and will continue through the end of April.
Rachel Smith, senior English major from Wiggins, Colo., said this year’s campaigns would be especially beneficial for those who are interested in exercise science, working with people with disabilities, working with children, social work, outdoor activities and supporting international mission work. She said every student will find something to enjoy in the Weekend Campaigns.
“The best part of this is getting to see other students really open up and realize they’re making a huge difference in people’s lives,” Smith said. “I don’t think a lot of them have ever really had that opportunity, so it’s always an eye-opener for them.”
Three more campaigns are set within the next two months, following the first campaign which took place last week.
On Feb. 22, students participated in the Cedar Creek Clean-Up Project in Abilene. The event was organized with the help of Dr. Jim Cooke from the Agriculture and Environmental Science Department, and was a one-day project that allowed students to serve even if they could not commit to an entire weekend of travel later on in the semester.
On March 22, students will travel to the Brookwood Community, a group home for functionally disabled adults outside of Katy. The ACU group will help lead an exercise program for the residents and participate in a talent show with community members.
Two trips will take place in April. On April 11-13, campaign participants will travel to the Arms of Hope Children’s Home outside of Quinlan. They will help with campus maintenance projects and have a chance to spend time with the children there. From April 23-25, they will go to the Latin American Lutheran Mission in Laredo. There they will assist with sanctuary painting and renovations and will organize a vacation Bible school for children in the community.
An ACU tradition, Weekend Campaigns are an opportunity for students to serve others within and outside the Abilene community. The Weekend Campaigns club organizes three to four campaigns every spring semester, which involve service at several locations in Texas and Oklahoma.
“We have several locations we have been going to since before I was even involved with campaigns, which means we get to spend time with the same people each year,” said Jaymee Myller, senior nursing major from Arvada, Colo. “For example, the residents at Brookwood remember us each year when we come back, and look forward to the ACU-Brookwood talent show. And in Oklahoma City we worked alongside Miss Ruby Stahl at the Luther Community Center every year during the Thanksgiving Donation Drive she organized year after year. These relationships are what have made campaigns so meaningful for me.”
Myller, who has been a campaign leader for the last two years, said interest in the campaigns has increased this year. On average, 25 to 30 students will participate in each event. Last week’s project in Abilene had 32 volunteers, and leaders are hoping for a similar turnout in each of the upcoming campaigns.
All students are welcome to sign up.
Students who wish to participate can email weekendcampaigns@gmail.com to get on the leaders’ contact list. They will send out sign-up information two weeks before each campaign.
