Day of Service 2023

Kennesaw State lends helping hands in annual volunteer event

By Kennesaw State University

April 18^th, 2023

More than 550 members of the Kennesaw State University community registered to spend a few hours Saturday volunteering as part of the University’s ninth annual Day of Service, visiting 27 work sites across metro Atlanta.

The Office of Economic Development and Community Engagement founded the Day of Service in 2014 in conjunction with the student arm of the Department of Student Volunteerism and Service, pairing hundreds of students, faculty, staff and community members with work projects at schools, parks, nonprofit organizations and other community sites.

This year’s event featured several high-water marks, including the most registrations and most sites served.

“This event has grown in participants and sites served each year, which is a testament to our dedication to our community,” said Kimberly Henghold, director of community engagement. “This annual volunteer event is an outstanding example of our students’ commitment to strengthening and fostering the partnerships within our community.”

Each Day of Service event represents the culmination of a year’s worth of planning by a committee of representatives from throughout the University, co-chaired this year by Henghold and William Hargrove, assistant director of the Department of Student Volunteerism and Service.

“It was absolutely thrilling seeing so many volunteers come together to support our community, and the feedback from our nonprofit community partners has been resoundingly positive,” Hargrove said. “Our team works diligently to manage these partnerships year-round, and it was a real treat seeing these relationships come to life.”

Volunteers started the day by gathering on the Kennesaw and Marietta campuses. President Kathy Schwaig welcomed volunteers on the Kennesaw Campus Green, while Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Ronald Briggs greeted those on the Marietta campus.

Participants included faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members, including members of Team Depot, a volunteer force of Home Depot employees. Team Depot alone accounted for 35 volunteers and provided funding and supplies at Northwest Classical Academy, a tuition-free public charter school in Kennesaw.

Projects at Northwest Classical Academy included beautification efforts such as landscaping, in addition to assembling outdoor benches for the campus.

“The impact that our volunteers made today allowed our local nonprofits to continue to fulfill their mission by providing the services that are needed for our residents in the Cobb County and metro Atlanta area,” Henghold said.

Lauren Cerny graduated from KSU and is currently a customer service coordinator for Parking and Transportation on campus. She volunteered as a site lead for Smith-Gilbert Gardens, a botanical garden in Kennesaw, out of a desire to give back to the community.

“When I arrived on campus Saturday morning, I could immediately feel the electricity and excitement within the volunteer group,” Cerny said. “The work was very rewarding, and we could immediately see the impact we were making. I left Day of Service feeling inspired and proud to work for Kennesaw State University.”

In 2023 KSU Day of Service volunteers spread across the area to work at these sites:

Salvation Army Marietta
Northwest Classical Academy
Next Step Ministries
Kennesaw Mountain Trail Club
Simple Needs GA
Georgia House Rabbit Society
Radow Shoebox Project
Books for Africa
Good Mews Animal Foundation
KSU Field Station
Cherokee Garden at Green Meadows Preserve
Adopt a Mile
Youth Empowerment through Learning, Leading, and Service
Georgia Writers Association
Marietta High School
YMCA McClesky-East Cobb
Laurel's Edge
North Cobb Regional Library
Center for Children and Young Adults
Smith-Gilbert Gardens
Pine Mountain Middle School
Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health
On campus Earth Week project
Cobb County Water System
Chattahoochee Nature Center

Between the first Day of Service in 2014 and last year, more than 2,100 volunteers had helped at 116 project sites. In 2020 during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, the event was canceled.