Community service projects to highlight Maine Day, May 2
University of Maine community members will take part in a day of service on Maine Day, May 2.
As part of the annual spring cleanup tradition, UMaine students, faculty and staff will complete volunteer projects aimed at sprucing up campus, enjoy a free barbecue and take part in a meal-packing event.
Festivities will begin at 8:30 a.m. with a parade featuring student organizations, residence hall groups, fraternities and sororities, as well as faculty and staff. The parade will start at the Hilltop area and travel around campus before ending on the Mall.
Those participating in the parade are encouraged to follow this year’s “Superhero” theme. Parade registration is online until 5 p.m. April 30.
Prizes will be awarded for the best campus department and student organization parade entries. Department winners will get the opportunity to attend a men’s ice hockey game in the skybox of Robert Dana, UMaine’s vice president for student life and dean of students. The best student organization will receive $200 from Student Life to be used for an event of their choice during the fall semester.
After the parade, more than 1,000 volunteers are expected to take part in about 70 projects, including raking, planting flowers, picking up litter and painting at various locations on and around campus.
Student groups will lead many projects, such as Gamma Sigma Sigma service sorority cleaning the playground area of the UMaine Children’s Center; sport club team members helping the Old Town Recreation Center prepare its Little League field for opening day; Alpha Sigma Phi helping Down East Emergency Medicine Institute (DEEMI) clean and stock search and rescue vehicles; Graduate Student Government gardening between Fogler Library and Memorial Union; and members of the UMaine Office of Veterans Education and Transition Services, MBS Corps and Navy ROTC cleaning and planting around the Class of 1945 Memorial sculpture outside Memorial Union.
This year also will mark the second Maine Day Meal Pack-out.
In meal pack-out events, campus and community volunteers pack meals that are given to food banks and community organizations that feed the hungry.
The goal of this year’s event is to contribute as many meals as possible to Maine’s food-insecure community while raising awareness about food insecurity and promoting experiential learning of service activism, according to student organizer Jack Brown.
The event will be held at 9 a.m. in the New Balance Student Recreation Center. It is organized by UMaine students, including those from the Honors College Student Advisory Board, UMaine Student Government, Panhellenic Council, Interfraternity Council (IFC) and Senior Skulls.
In 2017, UMaine surpassed Harvard University to set a record for the most meals packed by a New England university during one event. The meal pack-out also placed UMaine among the top 10 organizations in the country and fourth in New England, along with groups including AARP and United Way, for most meals packed. More than 250 volunteers helped pack 107,500 meals — about 5.5 tons of food.
A list of projects, including the meal pack-out, is available on the Bodwell Center for Service and Volunteerism website. Volunteers are still needed for many projects. Online registration ends April 30. In-person registration for remaining projects will be available beginning at 9 a.m. May 2 on the Mall (or in the Memorial Union in the event of rain).
Projects will continue until the annual Maine Day barbecue takes place in the Steam Plant Lot from noon to 1 p.m. The rain locations for the barbecue are Hilltop Dining, Wells Central and York Dining.
Several student organization philanthropy events will take place in the lot from noon to 3 p.m. Activities include the Alpha Delta oozeball — mud volleyball — championship, Sophomore Owls/CASE talent showcase, UMaine football team’s bone marrow drive, Golden Key International Honour Society’s dunk tank, Alpha Omicron Pi and Pi Kappa Phi pie-in-the-face booths, and the St. Baldrick’s head-shaving event hosted by UMaine Circle K.
Kickin’ Flicks will present two movies, “Thor: Ragnarok” at 3 p.m. in the Collins Center for the Arts, and a surprise showing at 9 p.m. on the Mall (or the CCA in the event of rain).
UMaine Student Government also will host Maine Day Fest 6–9 p.m. on the Mall. The event will feature food trucks, lawn games and live music. More information is on Facebook.
President Arthur Hauck inaugurated Maine Day in 1935. It is traditionally held on the last regular Wednesday of the spring semester. Classes with three or more weekly meetings are canceled to allow students to participate in volunteerism.
Funding for Maine Day is provided by the UMaine President’s Office, Division of Student Life, Vice President for Administration and Finance, Facilities Management and Black Bear Dining.
More information about Maine Day is online.
Contact: Elyse Catalina, 581.3747