On May 2, over 500 students, faculty and community members are expected to volunteer at DarCorps, a community service day.
This year, the event will be the final day in a state-wide week of service.
Sixteen other schools across the state, including the University of New Hampshire and colleges in Keene, Nashua and Manchester are organizing community service day events similar to DarCorps.
DarCorps, a Tucker Foundation-sponsored event, began last year as a way to get more students interested and excited about volunteer opportunities available in the community.
DarCorps founder Rex Morey '99 said he hopes that by participating in the project, "students will see the benefits of community service" and become excited in getting involved in other long-term projects.
Tani Brown '99, Zoe McLaren '00 and Morey chair the DarCorps committee this year.
McLaren said the idea caught on when other colleges and universities across the state heard about the success of DarCorps and became interested in hosting a similar event at their schools.
Morey, who received a Governor's Award for his involvement with DarCorps last year, said he is working with Campus Contact of New Hampshire and Rick Groleau, a volunteer coordinator from New Hampshire College, in order to create similar activities across the state.
Although Morey spearheaded the expansion of DarCorps to other schools, the colleges and universities are organizing their projects individually.
Some schools are modeling their community service days after DarCorps with many different projects involving a wide range of activities, including working with the elderly, spending time with children or serving outdoors, while other schools are focusing on just one or two projects, McLaren said.
The schools will be holding their service days between April 18 and May 2, and over 3,000 volunteers are expected to be involved.
This year's DarCorps is similar to last year. Approximately 500 volunteers will meet at about noon on May 2 to be assigned to their group and service activities.
Activities will include regularly offered Tucker Foundation volunteer projects, including Big Brother/Big Sister and Operation Insulation. Specific jobs may include removing graffiti from bridges with children in the LEAD program and helping with budgeting and social work at the Listen Center.
In the evening, the volunteers will return to the College after a day of service for a free barbecue dinner.
The Coed Fraternity Sorority Council is sponsoring the dinner and providing both money and manpower support in conjunction with the service aspect of its Greek Week, an event happening at the same time. Other sponsors include Coca-Cola, out of Keene, which is providing free beverages for event, the Hanover Co-op, which is providing apples, and several other Upper Valley businesses.
This year, new volunteer activities are being added, including a program named Road Rules, which will involve over 250 seniors working with eighth graders on a scavenger hunt.
A table set-up at the barbecue will offer information about other volunteer activities on campus. Morey said he hopes that by participating in DarCorps, students will be inspired to further involvement in community service.
Dean of the Tucker Foundation Scott Brown said college "is a time when students focus so much on academics and personal development that it is easy to forget that there [are] huge parts of the population that are in need of some extra help."
"Although one day of service is not going to make huge changes in social needs [in the Upper Valley], it is a chance to reconnect students with their own sense of service, " Brown said.
McLaren said she is optimistic that the number of DarCorps participants will increase each year, and the project will encourage people to become involved in community service in other ways. The expansion of DarCorps into a state-wide project is particularly inspiring, she said.
