by Naquela Kirk
The University of Alabama at Birmingham contributed 688 hours of community service on Saturday, Sept. 9 as part of the 24th annual Into the Streets, a bi-annual event sponsored by the UAB Leadership & Service Council (LSC) under the guidance of the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership.
A total of 344 volunteers took on the metro area, highlighted by their conscientious efforts to improve community spaces like schools, parks, markets, and community centers. Since 1999, UAB has used this event to get involved in the community, making a difference and an economic impact through service.
With an aim of promoting volunteerism, this semester’s event included Student Housing and Residence Life and Live HealthSmart Alabama as campus collaborators who assisted with connecting student volunteers to community partners like the Birmingham Zoo, Greater Birmingham Ministry, Lovelady Thrift Store, Barrett School, and Glen Iris Elementary School.
Kate Flowers, a sophomore chemistry major, served as a site leader at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute where volunteers put together educational materials for enrichment activities the institute regularly hosts. She remarked how rewarding it was to see freshman students get involved—reflecting, “Service is important to me because it serves as a reminder of the need for every single person to do their part in giving back to the community.”
Devlin Clappes, a freshman mechanical engineering major, volunteered at Dupuy Alternative School, participating in a beautification project that involved hands-on tasks, including picking up trash. For Devlin, this was not only a chance to serve but an opportunity to connect with other students, saying “I would volunteer again for the same reason: It was important to me for me to meet people.”
Friendships created from events like these have been known to add to a sense of belonging and a more fulfilling experience on campus, and now for over twenty years, Into the Streets has been successful not only in sparking new bonds among student peers but also in community involvement with many of the first-time volunteers becoming frequent participants and interns with the community partners.
“Into the Streets is an opportunity for students from all walks of life and sides of campus to get together and work towards a common goal: serving our community,” said Wajiha Mekki, executive director of the Student Leadership Council. “As a tenet of the Blazer Way, service is valuable to community, personal, and professional development,” she continued. “This event is unique to UAB and helps us not only honor this tenet and tradition but to do so in a way that will have an impact beyond our campus.”
Each year, events like Into the Streets help the university accomplish its mission of encouraging partnerships that improve education, health, economic prosperity and quality of life, and this fall’s reprisal of the signature event made a financial impact of $19,635. This event also falls in line with initiatives by UAB as a Health Promoting University in which the university creates a campus culture of leading with action through collaboration that ultimately impacts person, place and planet.
The Leadership & Service Council has more volunteer opportunities approaching throughout the academic year with flagship events like Rise Against Hunger and MLK’s Beloved Community, honoring the memory and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Students who would like to learn more about these events can follow the LSC on Instagram or keep an eye out for opportunities on BlazerPulse.