The ASU Community Service Coalition hosted the largest community service event of the year at ASU on Saturday.
The event, drawing close to 600 volunteers, was part of Devils in Disguise, an ASU community service program. Students took part in cleaning “A” Mountain and volunteering at homeless shelters and 15 other different Valley organizations.
Emmanuel Anumba, an undeclared freshmen, volunteered at the event for the first time by serving and cleaning up breakfast and lunch for other volunteers.
“Volunteering is an important part of the college experience,” he said. “It shows I am involved with my community, and it feels good knowing you are helping someone in need.”
There are many perks to volunteering, he said, and one of them could be as simple as something to add to a resume or meeting new people.
“I never used to volunteer until the beginning of this semester,” he said. “I started off my volunteering career with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service program and I liked it, so I am continuing to volunteer.”
Dan Ashlock, director of student engagement on the Tempe campus, helped organize the event.
“There’s different groups going around to different agencies like United Methodist Outreach Ministry and St. Vincent de Paul,” he said.
UMOM and St. Vincent de Paul both work with the homeless and underprivileged families. These are just a couple of the agencies the Community Service Coalition worked with, he said.
“Community service is one of the pillars of what it means to be an ASU student. Social embeddedness is very important to our community, not only at ASU, but also in the global world,” he said.
Devils in Disguise is one way the University helps students give back, he said.
Freshmen Crystal Garcia and Rosa Angel volunteered with their club, STEP Multicultural Honor Society.
“Volunteers took buses to homeless shelters, soup kitchens and landscape work around campus,” Garcia said.
Angel said she picked up trash and set up stages and lunch for the event volunteers.
“We’re with the people in our club, so (we) know each other and we’re having fun,” she said. “I like volunteering.”
At the conclusion of the event, Angel said she was happy to be part of such a large ASU community service effort.
“Getting clubs or the ASU student body in general involved with the community is a great thing,” she said. “There are many citizens in need of help or that are less fortunate than us, and by doing such acts of kindness we are able to make a difference in their lives.”
Reach the reporter at mmbarke1@asu.edu
