Volunteer slots open for Day of Service on April 26

BLOOMINGTON—Ivy Tech Community College’s Bloomington campus is hosting its 16^th annual O’Bannon Day of Service event on Friday, April 26.

The community is invited to volunteer with Ivy Tech again this year to reach its goal to provide 1,000 hours of volunteer service to local non-profit agencies in the area.

“We’re inviting residents and businesses to volunteer with our campus community to provide this vital service for local non-profits,” said Chancellor Jennie Vaughan. “To-date, we have 111+ volunteers, six local businesses, and our local firefighters that have signed on, putting us at a commitment of about 300 community service hours so far.”

To-date, there are 163 volunteer slots remaining for projects located in Bedford, Bloomfield, Bloomington, Ellettsville, French Lick, Martinsville, and Mitchell. Some open volunteer tasks include gardening, landscaping, spring cleaning and organization, painting, and packaging meals, among other projects.

Volunteers can view a full listing of projects and sign up at ivytech.edu/obannon and click on Day of Service, then click Sign up to Volunteer. Volunteers are encouraged to share photographs of the O’Bannon Day of Service on social media using the hashtag #IvyTech1000Hours.

Volunteers are invited to a kick-off breakfast and civic engagement award ceremony, where they can pick up T-shirts and some inspiration from guest speakers, Lucy Schaich, interim coordinator of the City of Bloomington Volunteer Network, and Vicki Pierce, executive director of the Community Kitchen of Monroe County, Inc., before heading out to volunteer. Doors open to Ivy Tech’s Shreve Hall on Friday, April 26 at 8 a.m. and remarks begin at 8:45 a.m. The program will wrap at about 9:30 a.m.

Ivy Tech civic engagement award winners include:
Excellence in Volunteerism
Candace Dean, director of advising, for her work with the Owen County Humane Society

Student Excellence in Volunteerism
Christina Naylor, for her work with the Middleway House Wrapped in Love fundraiser

Excellence in Service Learning
Jerry Hansen III, assistant professor, department of fine arts, for his work leading student Alternative Spring Break programming

Jeanine C. Rae Humanitarian Award
Jacob Alexander, for helping his peers and college community as an emerging student leader and for spearheading activities for clients of local non-profit, Stone Belt

Community Organization Partner
The three Rotary Clubs of Bloomington (Bloomington North, Bloomington Rotary, and Bloomington Sunrise), for their partnership with Ivy Tech to provide scholarships to students, for recognizing Connie (chair of the Campus Board of Trustees) and Steve Ferguson during the annual Rotary Toast, and positively impacting the local and global community

Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center Community Partner
Monroe County Community School Corporation (MCCSC), for their partnership in supporting arts education and scholarships, and its vital role in developing the whole child and whole community

Gayle & Bill Cook Center for Entrepreneurship Community Partner
Bloomington Economic Development Corporation (BEDC), for their partnership and focus on growing businesses and the job base in the local community

John R. Whikehart Civic Engagement Award
Bruce Calloway, Duke Energy South Central district manager, for his generous support of our civic engagement initiatives in both resources and time

The campus hosted its final fundraising dinner featuring keynote speaker, Michael Smerconish, at the sold out 2018 event.

Top sponsors of the 16^th Annual O’Bannon Day of Service include Bloomington Economic Development Corporation, Cook Group, Duke Energy, French Lick Resort, Old National Bank, and Smithville.

More information at ivytech.edu/obannon.