On Saturday, October 25, 2008, Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) hosted Make a Difference Day by participating in five on and off-campus service projects. Make a Difference Day has been celebrated across America for the past 18 years as a national day of service sponsored by USA Weekend Magazine. 

 

Bringing the day to SIU with the theme, Salukis Going Green!, students had a chance to participate in flower pot decorating, partner-reading with youth in the community, repairing trails within the Shawnee National Forest, selling trees for a good cause, and also helping with the clean-up of one of Jackson County's historic roads, Old Route 13.

The day could not have been possible without some of the organizations and student groups that worked to make Make a Difference Day happen. Organizations including the Saluki Volunteer Corps, the AmeriCorps*VISTA program, Beautify Southern Illinois, Keep Carbondale Beautiful, The Carbondale Public Library, and the Shawnee National Forest trailblazers collaborated on coordinating and promoting the projects on and off campus. 

 

For the day, over 60 students came together to participate as volunteers on that sunny Saturday morning, with the Student Environmental Center registered student organization leading them as project supervisors.

 

In the future, Saluki Volunteer Corps hopes that Make a Difference Day at SIUC will continue in the new tradition of being an environmentally-focused day of service that will give student volunteers a chance to celebrate the best of the Fall season while taking time to appreciate the great outdoors Southern Illinois has to offer through projects that combines awareness with service.

 

Photos of the event showing volunteers in action and enjoying lunch provided by the Saluki Volunteer Corps at the end of the day: