On October 12th, Engage Dallas held the 4th annual #1Day4Dallas fall day of service. On this day, students from every Residential Commons, along with staff and faculty, were able to engage in serving the city of Dallas. Engage Dallas offered service opportunities with ten of our community partners during this event.
Students served with Trusted World, Empowering the Masses, Austin Street Center, The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center, Mercy Street Ministries, Brother Bill’s Helping Hands, Keep Dallas Beautiful, Our Saviour Community Garden, Senior Source, and Trinity River Audubon Center. 127 volunteers spent their Saturday morning assisting these community partners in serving the people of South & West Dallas.
Several of the community partners shared gratitude for the service that students offered. One of Ware Commons’ partners, Empowering the Masses, hosted one of the sites where students served:
“Keeping our space tidy and presentable is an underrated part of providing our services. Whether you’ve broken down boxes, wiped down tables, swept and mopped the floors, or anything in between, we thank you for your diligence and dedication.Your positive attitude and willingness to serve is noted by the members of the church and staff of Empowering the Masses. Every aspect that goes into serving our community, no matter how small in the grand scheme, is crucial to the progress we’re achieving. We cannot thank you enough.”
Students from Crum Commons were able to serve with their community partner, Senior Source/Modern Senior Living. They were able to facilitate activities and interact with the residents who reside there. Senior Source staff shared their gratitude for the students who came to their site: “I cannot THANK the students from SMU Engage Dallas Crum Commons enough for hosting their #1Day4Dallas Fall Service Project at Modern Senior Living Nursing & Rehab Center in South Dallas this morning. The residents enjoyed meeting and socializing with the students. So many residents do not have family and seldom have visitors, therefore, the students made an immeasurable impact in the residents’ quality of life.”
Students at other sites engaged in trash pickup, gardening, donation sorting, and facilitating sports camps for youth. Overall, student volunteers had an excellent experience learning more about their city and how they can impact others. When asked what was impactful for them about the experience, students shared that the opportunity to give back and to connect to the community was really meaningful. One student shared, “Meeting people who live so close to me and have fallen on tough circumstances while I am so privileged has humbled me significantly. It has made me both more grateful for what I have and more determined to give back.”
A big thanks to all who came out to serve, and to our community partners for offering opportunities for SMU to learn and serve alongside them to better our city.
