Bisons for Christ, an annual day of service, was held on Wednesday, April 10.
Bisons for Christ has not always been the service day as we know it. Its original name was Day of Service and was started by Steve Cloer, a Student Association president. Because offices change every year, it was hard to keep the service day going year-to-year. It was finally handed over to The Rock House seven years ago where it has been able to have more consistency.
It was a successful year for Bisons for Christ. There were more than 2,500 volunteers involved and 170 different projects. Those numbers only include the projects that were run through The Rock House, but there were many others that were run by individual campus groups.
Bailey Clements has participated in Bisons for Christ for two years. Last year she was able to work at a care home washing windows and this year she worked with a group of girls from Ko Jo Kai doing something a little different than most projects.
“This year we baked cookies and lots of other goodies, which isn’t your typical ‘manual labor’ but we took them to two police departments and both fire departments,” Clements said. “They were so happy when we gave them to them, and we also wrote them a card thanking them for all they do for the community.”
Several members of TNT volunteered to rake leaves for an elderly widow in the community. Jacob Turner was among those who volunteered. He said he volunteers to do service projects because it is a great way to glorify God.
“Participating in this service project gave me a much better attitude toward service,” Turner said. “I really enjoyed getting to work with friends, seeing the thankfulness of the people we help, and doing work for the Lord.”
Sophomore Leighton Teague volunteered with many of her sisters in Ju Go Ju. The girls helped with an after-school program at an elementary school in Judsonia. The girls were split up into groups and did different activities with the students such as sports, dance and jewelry-making. Teague said she is glad she decided to participate and plans on doing so again in the future.
“It was very gratifying and I knew that sacrificing one afternoon of my homework was making an impact on a child’s life,” Teague said. “It is a good way to get you service-minded, especially after just having gone on a spring break mission trip. It is so easy to forget how many opportunities there are and how much we are needed right here.”
Video by Amy Maré
