DEEP Service Magazine Spring/Summer 2014 | Page 14

UNDERGRADUATENEWS

Weekend Service Days Are a Unique Opportunity to
Broaden Service Horizons and Impact
The Bonner Service Leaders had the
opportunity to engage in various “Weekend
Service” days during the spring semester.
These full days of service offered students the
opportunity to serve a different population and
step out of their weekly routines to get to know a new local
partner. They focused on branching out and working with
new partners to better understand their mission and
purpose.
Students began the spring semester by engaging in the first
annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, a campus
and nation-wide
event in January.
The mission of this
day was to follow in
the footsteps of the
late MLK, Jr. and
serve within our
local community.
Bonners Service
Leaders and
students from Siena
College, Green Tech
High Charter
School, Albany
High School, North
Albany Academy,
and Albany
Leadership Charter
High School for Girls, traveled together to nine
organizations in the Albany area. These included: Ronald
McDonald House, St. John’s/St. Ann’s Outreach Center,
Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless, Capital City
Rescue Mission, Trinity Alliance, Capital Area Peer Services,
Children’s Hospital at Albany Medical Center, Mercy
Shelter, and St. Charles Shelter. This was a great chance to
work with a variety of community partners and to involve
more Siena students in our mission at ACE.
DEEP Service Magazine | Page 14

In March, students served at the Peter Young Housing,
Industries, and Treatment’s Schuyler Inn, where we hosted a
Spring Family Day for all of the residents and their
children. The day was filled with crafts, games, and a shared
meal. Our students enjoyed building friendships with all of
the children while getting their faces covered in face paint!
In April, Bonner Service Leaders had the opportunity to
serve at one of two community partner sites: Unity House
in Troy and the Pride Center of the Capital Region.
Students were inspired by these two nonprofits in particular
for their very progressive movements and the variety of
services that they offer.
We came to find out
that Unity House, in
their brand new
building in Troy, offers
locally grown, organic
food to their guests in
order to improve their
health and quality of
life. The Pride Center
of the Capital Region
is the oldest
continuously operating
LGBT community
center in the country.
We were fortunate
enough to help
redesign their art
studio, where students and community members alike have
the opportunity to display their artwork. The Pride Center
was extremely grateful for the work that Bonners did for
them and the community. Our Weekend Service Days
proved to be very successful and a unique opportunity to
broaden our service horizons to a variety of partners.
By Kelly Finn ’16, Bonner Service Leader