by Taylor Bryant
The University of West Georgia College of Social Sciences partnered with the Community Foundation of West Georgia for its first All-College Service Day on Friday, October 18. More than 70 COSS faculty, staff and students gathered to volunteer for local nonprofit organizations and service projects. This year’s event was themed “Event for Impact: COSS Day of Serving Humanity and Doing Public Good.”
“In looking across all the departments in the College of Social Sciences, we found that we are all ‘serving humanity and doing public good’ though our teaching, scholarship and service,” says Dr. Amber Smallwood, associate dean of the College of Social Sciences. “Friday’s All-College Service Day is just one more way that we are engaging with our community.”
Throughout the day faculty, staff and students served four nonprofits. At Manna House, a house for children and adults experiencing poverty, UWG volunteers organized and inventoried food pantry donations. At Hope House, a shelter for men experiencing poverty, volunteers completed grounds work. At the Carroll County Humane Society for animals, volunteers collected used blankets and towels in addition to exercising shelter animals.
There was also a park and road cleanup in partnership with Keep Carroll Beautiful. “The state of Georgia spends a lot of tax dollars cleaning up roadside trash, so we’re saving a lot of money by doing this work for them,” explains Jacqueline Dost, executive director of Keep Carroll Beautiful.
“It was clear we couldn’t choose just one service project; there were too many volunteers and such diverse interests,” continues Dr. Smallwood. “We partnered with the Community Foundation of West Georgia to create an event for impact. They helped couple us with nonprofits that are in real need in our local community.”
According to Dr. Smallwood, faculty, staff and students from every department in the College volunteered. Students representing the Anthropology Society, Criminology, National Broadcasting Society, Political Science Club, Public Relations Student Society of America, the Sociological Collective and Young Democrats took part in the service projects.
