Big things come in small packages.
This cliché rings true once again. Circle K, the largest non-Greek collegiate service club in the world, is organizing a volunteer project called “Little Things Month” for the month of October.
The program aims to persuade as many students as possible to commit five minutes per day for the entire month of October to helping out the community.
“College kids seem to think that community service means spending half your day working hard and getting dirty,” said Kim Hancock, district chair for the Wisconsin/Upper Michigan branch of the program. “But this program takes just five minutes and can be really fun.”
Hancock and Mark Drake, also an officer for the state district, developed the idea for the project and implemented it throughout the Circle K community. Over 21 campuses in the area are expected to participate.
“It’s a fun way to help out other people, but can be a real self-help project, too,” said Drake. “You can give up something you really like for a day to better your lifestyle.”
Ideas for daily volunteer projects include donating a can of soup to a food pantry, reading to a child or simply holding the door open for three different people. A calendar will also be available around campus listing various service ideas throughout the month of October.
“Some groups that are participating in the project have expanded it and will offer opportunities to devote more than their share,” Hancock said. “Concordia University for example, is sponsoring a food drive to make it easier for students to donate.”
In addition to the five minutes each day Circle K is requesting of all students, club members are also required to work on one family outreach project each week during October.
“We volunteer for the community because it’s fun,” Hancock said. “It’s a great feeling you get afterwards, when you know you’ve done something worthwhile.”
Although October will be the first time the project is implemented, Circle K members hope it will grow.
“We hope to get the entire campus, both professors and students, involved. If we get great feedback, we’d very much like to do it again in near future,” Drake said.
Since its birth at UW-Madison in 1982, Circle K has organized other events, such as hosting “band night” concerts. All concert proceeds went to helping children of the Menomonee Indian reservation buy school clothes. Other past projects range from reading to under-privileged children to volunteering in a soup kitchen.
The group meets every Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. in Union South. For more information, check the website at http.//www.sit.wisc.edu/~cki.
