The Service and Leadership Residential Learning Community will host the ninth annual Leave Yosef a Legacy Day on April 11 to serve various organizations through community service.
The goal of Leave Yosef a Legacy Day is to help Appalachian State University students realize the importance of student involvement within the surrounding community. The event is hosted to benefit several non-profits in Watauga County such as OASIS, Horse Helpers, the Hunger and Health Coalition and the Humane Society.
Leave Yosef a Legacy Day will be held in the Blue Ridge Ballroom of Plemmons Student Union from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The RLC is located in Cone Residence Hall, which houses the students that are in charge of planning the service day.
The event will promote student connections with non-profits, introducing them to volunteer opportunities that span beyond the day, while also growing the leadership, service and professional skills of the students that plan the event.
“I’ve participated in service days, but not necessarily a student-run event,” said Hailey Pister, the chair leader of the education committee for the event. “I feel as though this is more personal, and more about the students learning within these events, during the planning and the volunteering.”
Abigail Baist, the co-chair overseeing the entire event, and Gabe Duff, a member of the service committee agreed that tasks such as dividing up work and contacting the different service locations allowed the students to assume different responsibilities, while learning the importance of communication with each other.
“We’ve learned a lot about working together,” Pister said. “It’s a lot of communication with other committees and other people – it’s great to work together and to have all of your ideas shared in one place.”
Duff said the division of the work amongst the students of the RLC, and the necessity of communication brought all of the residents on the floor together and allowed them to learn more about each other.
“When you are planning an actual event, you are seeing the other end of it. A lot of people do service, but they’re the ones that are signing up to volunteer,” Baist said. “When you’re on the other end and you see how much hard work is going into it, you’re not only getting the service benefit, but you’re learning leadership, you’re learning to be flexible and everyone has ideas and input and everyone works together to make the event successful.”
STORY: Jordan Boles, Intern News Reporter