Service, Celebration Go Hand-In-Hand This Year at SMC

08/18/10 — 10th Annual Freshmen Day of Service This Saturday, As New Service Challenge Kicks Off

SPARTANBURG, SC - Spartanburg Methodist College will celebrate its 10th annual Freshmen Day of Service (FDOS) on Saturday with nearly 500 students participating in service projects at more than 20 sites throughout the Spartanburg community - and will also kick-off a new service initiative called the Centennial Service Challenge.

The FDOS is a community outreach event held each fall during the first weekend freshmen are on campus, in which all freshmen are required to participate. The event is designed to give incoming students an opportunity to learn more about and give back to the Spartanburg community.

"Freshmen Day of Service is an exciting experience for our entire campus.  We are looking forward to showing our students the great giving spirit of Spartanburg, while also highlighting some of our city's greatest needs.  This experience changes people's lives, both the person being served and the one serving.  It is always a favorite event of our Orientation program for new students," says Kim Day, SMC's Director of Student Activities and Leadership Development.

The event also assists students in developing leadership skills and generates a greater awareness of the needs within their own communities. The theme of the 2010 FDOS is "100 Years of Pioneers."

In conjunction with FDOS, the college is also launching its Centennial Service Challenge (CSC) the same day.

The CSC will run through April 21 and will encourage SMC students, staff, faculty, trustees, parents and alumni to give back to the Spartanburg Community by committing to complete 100 hours of service over the eight-month period.

Those who participate in the CSC will maintain online e-portfolios, chronicling their service work and describing their experiences through personal reflection. Each participant who completes their 100-hour commitment will be honored at a dinner in April.

"The goals of a liberal arts education include enabling students to attain knowledge in the various academic fields. We would define our graduates as 'well-rounded' individuals because of our strong academics, but we can say that their education is 'complete' because of the opportunities we provide to serve. When each of us does our part through service to others, we come to a greater understanding of our humanity, our fragility and a greater appreciation of the lives we each lead; and we learn how to put our academic understanding of humanity into action," says SMC President Dr. Colleen P. Keith.

The CSC is one of several events and projects designed to commemorate SMC's Centennial Celebration. SMC was founded in 1911 by Dr. David English Camak as the Textile Industrial Institute.

"In our centennial year, we are grateful for the legacy of service that Dr. Camak provided and we are celebrating that legacy by challenging all members of the Spartanburg Methodist College community to dedicate 100 hours this year to serving others in our community. We hope that many of the members of the faculty and staff will model for the students the importance of reaching beyond the classroom to enrich their education.  The concepts that are taught in the classroom can come alive when they are used to tackle some of the social issues of the day," adds SMC Chaplain Candice Sloan.

Students, faculty, staff and alumni participating in the 2010 FDOS will each get credit from that service event toward their 100-hour commitment for the Centennial Service Challenge.

Led by the SMC Pioneer Peers, faculty and staff members, freshmen will be divided into teams that will work at 21 project sites throughout Spartanburg County for FDOS, which include:

  • Aldersgate United Methodist Church
  • Girl Scouts of America's Camp Mary Elizabeth
  • Central United Methodist Church
  • Children's Advocacy Center
  • Children's Shelter of the Upstate
  • Christmas in Action
  • Dillon Pointe Assisted Living
  • Fuller Center for Housing's Thrift Store
  • Interim Healthcare Hospice
  • Miracle Hill Ministries
  • McCracken Junior High
  • SAFE Homes - Rape Crisis Center
  • Salvation Army Community  Center
  • SOAR Academy
  • Southeastern Children's Home
  • Spartanburg Charter School
  • Spartanburg Parks Commission
  • Spartanburg Regional Hospice
  • Spartanburg Soup Kitchen
  • SPACE
  • Windsor House Assisted Living

 

Spartanburg Methodist College begins its 100th academic year of providing quality education to students in a Christian environment on Aug. 25, 2010.  More than 90 percent of SMC graduates continue their education at other institutions of higher learning.

For more information, contact Brian Fulkerson, director of public information, at (864) 587-4254 or publicinfo@smcsc.edu