Community Cares Week 2024
Marshall University’s third-annual Community Cares Week: Giving Back to the Herd was a tremendous success, with hundreds of volunteers pitching in to make a positive impact on the university’s campuses and in their hometowns.
The four-day sweat equity event focused on engaging faculty, staff, students, community members, local businesses and alumni chapters to help check off “To Do List” items on the campus, while giving back to the university that has invested in them, as well. Alumni chapters who were unable to make it back to campus worked on service projects in their own communities.
This year, the volunteer week surpassed last year’s event by more than 50% with a total of 1,088 people who pre-registered or walked up to volunteer, working 3,415.5 service hours. Of those, 785 volunteered on Marshall’s campuses, while 303 volunteered in their hometowns through their Marshall alumni affiliations. Approximately 100 staff members working as many as eight shifts led projects and a dozen staff or cabinet members served lunches or drew raffle prizes each day.
Several area groups also volunteered together, including the MU Early Education Steam Center, Child Development Academy, Leadership West Virginia, staff members who serve West Virginia’s local, state and national representatives, State Electric Supply Company, Marshall’s ROTC, Nucor and Lowe’s and Comfort Inn employees.
The on-campus volunteers with the farthest travel time were Joe and Paula Cunningham from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Joe received a bachelor’s degree in business from Marshall University in 1982. To learn more about their story, click here.
To view a video compilation of Community Cares Week, click here. To view photos of volunteers and projects, click here.
Materials used for projects included:
- 2,568 flowers and shrubs
- 11 flats of flowers at Marshall’s South Charleston and MOVC campuses
- 55 bushes and shrubs planted at Marshall’s South Charleston and MOVC campuses
- 690 bags of mulch
- 103 tons of stone/landscaping rock
- 30 gallons of Kelly green paint
- 40 gallons of white paint
- 37 paint rollers
- 10 paint brushes
- 65 rolls of painter’s tape
- 56 paint pans
- 14 – 30 yard dumpsters
The following tasks were completed by volunteers:
Landscaping
- 103 tons (206,000 lbs.) of stone/landscape rock were hand carried and placed in landscaping, which included: 30,000 lbs. (619 blocks) of stone landscape wall installed near Smith Music Hall, 48,000 lbs. of rip-rap stone placed on landscape hill at Morrow Library, 40,000 lbs. of rip-rap stone placed on landscape hill at Old Main, 24,000 lbs. of gray stone placed on landscape hill at Old Main and 64,000 lbs. of river rock placed at various locations around campus.
- New plants and shrubs were added around campus, including the Memorial Student Center Plaza. Mulch was placed around beds around campus.
Kid-friendly tasks
- Weeding and mulching vegetable beds in the student garden, sponsored by Marshall’s Sustainability Department, removal of winter plants from 10 elevated beds at the Memorial Student Center followed by planting of 505 summer flowers, removal of winter plants from circle planters at the Memorial Student Center followed by planting of 576 summer flowers.
Pressure Washing
- The Memorial Student Center Plaza, sidewalks and entryways across campus were power washed, totaling 70 volunteer service hours.
Painting
- Areas across campus, including student residence rooms in Buskirk Hall and all 12 concession stands at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
Housekeeping
- 11 – 30 foot dumpsters were filled with unwanted items from spring cleanout from Drinko Library, the Memorial Student Center, Corbly Hall, Old Main, Smith Hall, Smith Music Hall, Morrow Library and the Science Building, totaling 76,000 lbs. Residence halls and the Memorial Student Center were cleaned, including a deep cleaning/detailing of six restrooms in the MSC, as well as 3 – 30 foot dumpsters filled with unwanted items.
Thrift Store
- Donations from residence hall Green Move Out events were organized and sorted.