FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – AUGUST 16, 2008

First Weekend On Campus Includes Service Projects For Freshmen

Students Help Out At 19 Sites During 8th Annual Freshmen Day of Service

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SPARTANBURG, SC – More than 400 Spartanburg Methodist College freshmen participated in the 8th annual Freshman Day of Service on Saturday Aug. 16. 

Freshmen Day of Service 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. The event also  assists students in developing leadership skills and generates a greater awareness of the needs within their own communities. 

The SMC student ambassadors, the College’s orientation leaders, chose “Strive to Go M.A.D,” with M.A.D. standing for Make a Difference, as the theme of this year’s event. 

“We know that through participation in the Day of Service, our freshman class will truly make a difference, not only in the local community, but also in their own lives.  It’s always an exciting time to see students return from their service projects.  Their whole perspective seems to change.  We are thankful for this opportunity to help others in our community and introduce our students to ways they can be involved and make a difference,” says Kim Day, SMC Director of Student Activities and Leadership Development. 

Day and SMC Chaplain Candice Sloan coordinate the annual event. 

Led by the ambassadors and faculty and staff members, freshmen were divided into 19 teams that worked at various project sites throughout Spartanburg County, which include: 

• Aldersgate United Methodist Church
• Jesse Boyd Elementary School
• Fuller Center for Housing of Spartanburg
• Charles Lea Center
• Children’s Advocacy Center
• Goodwill Thrift Store
• Habitat for Humanity
• Interim HealthCare Hospice
• Middle Tyger Community Center
• Mobile Meals
• New Day Clubhouse
• Park Hills Elementary School
• SAFE Homes Rape Crisis Coalition Thrift Store
• Second Presbyterian Soup Kitchen
• Ellen Hines Smith Girls’ Home
• Spartanburg Childrens’ Shelter
• South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind
• Salvation Army
• Spring Arbor 

“SMC is grateful that we can be of service to the Spartanburg area.  Our students are our greatest asset  and we appreciate the opportunity to share them with those in the community who need them,” adds Chaplain Sloan.  

Spartanburg Methodist College is in its 98th year of providing quality education to students in a Christian environment.  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. 

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