Community service will be the phrase of the day at Belmont next Saturday, as students will be able to volunteer at either Family Literacy Day or Bruin Den Day on March 24.
Connecting students with families and their children in the Edgehill community, Belmont will host the 12th annual Family Literacy Day from 1 to 4 p.m. at E.S. Rose Park.
“Family Literacy Day is aimed at children from pre-k through grade six and their families and is designed to celebrate the joys of reading,” director of service learning Tim Stewart said.
Numerous campus groups including the Black Student Alliance, foreign language majors, the Student Athlete Council and many fraternities and sororities will host reading circles, a main focus of Family Literacy Day.
“Each group picks a different theme and has a variety of books for all ages,” Stewart said.
Stewart expects around 300 and 400 children and their families to be at Family Literacy Day. Student volunteers are encouraged to help with set-up, logistics, refreshments, games, crafts, face painting and reading circles.
There will also be drawings for door prizes throughout the afternoon, as well as balloons, arts and crafts, refreshments, and face painting. Children will be able to choose from hundreds of books donated by Book’em, a local literacy organization many Belmont students volunteer at throughout the year. In addition, the winner of the third annual Elementary School Poetry Contest will also be announced at the event. This year, 106 poems from students at Metro Nashville elementary schools submitted and five of those were chosen as finalists by Belmont’s English club.
“Several area songwriters were enlisted to help the children set the poems to music and the songs are available online for the community, including Belmont students, faculty and staff, to vote for their favorite song,” Stewart said.
Students can also receive one hour of community service convo credit for each hour they volunteer. If they attend one of the orientation sessions in addition to Family Literacy Day, students can receive an extra hour of community service convo.
For more information about the volunteer opportunities, students can visit the event’s web page.
In addition to Family Literacy Day, the Student Government Association is sponsoring Bruin Den Day on the same Saturday.
While Bruin Den Day has historically assisted with Family Literacy Day in Edgehill, SGA has set their own lineup of service events for students, said assistant director of students Sara Stacy.
“This year SGA has worked to obtain opportunities with various Nashville organizations such as the Radnor Lake cleanup, Nashville Community Gardens, Poverty and the Arts, Second Harvest Food Bank, and a local church,” Stacy said.
Organizations and groups of students can sign up in teams of five through 10 people through SGA’s BruinLink page or by stopping by the SGA office to fill out a form. Registration runs through Fri., March 16 until 4 p.m.
Community service convo credit will be given to students who volunteer at one of the Bruin Den Day shift, either from 8 a.m. to noon or from 1 to 4 p.m.