Students hoping to get involved in the Ashland community need look no further than the upcoming Service Week, featuring 22 events with a variety of opportunities in different fields. Sponsored by Community Care, Srvice Week starts Oct. 23 and concludes Oct. 30.

Community Care hopes that students will take time out of their week to participate.

“It’s only one week; we hope students will come and see what service is all about,” said Rebecca Schaaf, the director of Community Service. “We wanted to find one week to impact the community and give students lots of service opportunities. We have everything from raking leaves to building houses.”

Each Community Care team will have their own events throughout the week.

“It’s really cool to see how Community Care has grown and expanded,” Schaaf said. “We are hoping to reach as many students as possible.”

Schaaf hopes that students who attend Service Week will continue to serve the community long after Service Week ends.

Although not required, students interested in serving can sign up for events they hope to attend. Students who attend five events will receive a free t-shirt displaying this year’s theme, “Calling all volunteers!”

A new event that Schaaf hopes students will attend is titled, “How can I make a bigger difference?” The event is a question and answer session with award-winning members of the community about how students can become more involved in community service.

The session will take place Thursday, Oct. 28 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the student center auditorium.

Other note-worthy events will be the Hunger Team Crop Walk Oct. 24 at Christ United Methodist.

“The idea behind the event is ‘we walk because they walk,’ and the money raised will benefit people who have to walk miles to get food or water,” Schaaf said.

“Students were actually in charge of it; most of the time area churches take charge of it, so it’s a great experience for our students. It’s a great event that will benefit people both locally and internationally.”

Another event that Community Care is hoping to promote is Project Linus. Named for the “Peanuts” character that is never seen without his blanket, Project Linus allows students to help create fleece blankets for traumatized children. Schaaf reported that almost 80 blankets were created last year during the event.

For more information about Service Week, students can contact Karie Charlton at x5729 or [email protected]. Students can also sign up for events in the Center for Community Service on the second floor of the student center.