EUGENE, Ore. – Embrace the City Day, an annual day of service at Northwest Christian University, took place on September 24 with over 270 volunteers from the NCU community including more than 130 athletics and athletic staff participating. Every NCU athletic team participated in the event, usually working as a team at a particular service site.
On this particular day, all NCU classes are cancelled in the afternoon, giving every student, faculty, and staff member the opportunity to participate. This year 17 projects were scheduled , benefiting 16 different organizations: Boys and Girls Club, Camp Harlow, Catholic Community Services, Churchill Garden, First Baptist Church, Grassroots Garden, Habitat for Humanity, Mt. Pisgah, Springfield Youth Farms, St. Vincent De Paul, Eugene Family YMCA, ARC of Lane County, Native Plant Nursery, Hannah’s House, Whitebird Clinic, and Hosea House.
“At NCU we hold wisdom, faith and service in high regards, striving to live out each value to the best of our abilities,” said Ally Mittleider, ETC Day student coordinator and former Beacon softball player. “ETC Day is one opportunity for us to connect with and bless those who are continuously blessing the community. It is my hope that ETC Day will show the community just how much we care, and will inspire the students to serve their communities long after graduation.”
At the YMCA, the men’s basketball team was part of the group of volunteers that helped cleaning play equipment both indoors and out and also got to work directly with kids, playing dodgeball and other games. Associate Athletic Director Sarah Freeman, who also participated in the event, said, “This project was a great opportunity for some early season group bonding for the basketball team. Playing with kids was a great way to interact with local youth and we were also able to help out an organization that does so much for our community.”
Men’s Basketball Chaplain Captain Remi White added,” It is always very exciting to see the smile on people’s faces that we are helping out.”
Junior softball player Sarah Lawhorn was a lead for the project at Hosea House, which serves homeless teens. The volunteers cleaned bathrooms and other facilities and helped restock supplies. Lawhorn said, “It really had a big impact on me to serve people who serve others on a daily basis and knowing that I made their lives a little easier is a huge blessing. I got to learn more about what they do each and every day for homeless youth and it taught me a lot.”
Other teams participated in indoor projects, helping sort and organize donations for St. Vincent De Paul, Habitat for Humanity, the Eugene Mission, and Catholic Community Services.
A number of groups got to make good use of their green thumbs working outside. Lawhorn’s softball teammates participated in a weed cleanup at the Churchill Garden. The men’s soccer team worked as part of the team at FOOD For Lane County’s Grassroots Garden, harvesting celery. Some members of the men’s cross country team worked in the native plant nursery at Mt. Pisgah, cleaning seeds and pots and weeding.
Meanwhile, the women’s basketball and women’s golf teams worked with Friends of Buford Park and Mt. Pisgah, helping cut teasel for an ecological burn. At the Springfield Youth Garden, members of the track & field team harvested tomatoes and did some weeding around the other vegetables.
At Camp Harlow, members of the women’s soccer team helped rake leaves and across the street at First Baptist Church, some of the volleyball team helped clean and detail a few church buses.
The variety of opportunities is one of the things that make NCU’s Embrace The City program so meaningful. “New students are given a chance to find an organization to plug into while they are going to school at NCU,” said Mittleider. “Personally, I love being able to provide the communication between organizations and our students on campus and to see them continue to work with the same organizations for years to come.”
Planning is already underway on next fall’s event with the hopes of having even more participants from NCU and more organizations to serve.