To celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, each year the Community Service Center takes the day to volunteer around the city. This January, however, Donald Curtis, Operations and Program Coordinator, wanted to try something a little different.

Curtis set out to engage not only AU students, but local youth and senior citizens, in the Day of Service. It was Curtis’ challenge to combine the interests of the student body with the traditions of the Community Service Center, which was to work with senior citizens.

The solution came in the form of options, heavy advertising, and group planning. The Community Service Center chose four different locations throughout D.C. and opened the day to anyone in both the AU and local communities who wanted to volunteer their time. 

The locations included the Washington Senior Wellness Center in southeast and the Allen House in northeast. If Curtis could change one thing, “I’d choose another site in southwest,” said Curtis. The third and fourth sites were both located in northwest D.C. 

Curtis’ favorite part of the day was “rallying the students in the morning” before they shipped out to their different sites but a big plus for the Community Service Center was that 141 individuals were involved. In the past, the day drew in closer to 50 volunteers.