By Hilary Thompson
The BG News, Bowling Green State U.

(UWire)--In remembrance of Martin Luther King Jr.'s historical service, the Office of Service-Learning and Bowling Green State University students and organizations are deciding to use their day off Jan. 19 to give back to the community.

The Martin Luther King Challenge was started by Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., and is now a model used throughout the nation to commemorate the teachings and community service of Martin Luther King. The official slogan of having a "day on" instead of a "day off" started back in 1994. The University will be one of 126 campuses across the nation completing the MLK Service Challenge.

"I really hope the students are able to take away a better understanding of the community they are part of now as BGSU students and also have a better understanding of Martin Luther King's teachings and how those connect to this day"
-Lesa Shouse

The event, which will bring together about 120 volunteers including students, faculty and staff, begins Monday (01/19/2009) with an opening ceremony. Volunteers will be broken into groups and randomly paired with a community partner and assigned a "mission" of service that will remain a secret up until volunteers open their packets. The challenge packets contain the name of the organization they will be serving and what service needs completed.

The Ohio Campus Compact granted $600 to divide amongst the teams as seed money in the form of Visa gift cards. Volunteers will then face the challenge of planning and completing as much service work as possible from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. while using their limited amount of money. A closing ceremony will then take place afterwards.

The Martin Luther King Committee did not do the challenge last year, but instead held a small service project of about 40 volunteers. This year Lesa Shouse, graduate assistant and head coordinator, decided to make the event larger after hearing about the MLK challenge while at an Ohio Campus Compact conference.

Shouse thought it was unique because many people, like herself, probably did not know that MLK day is supposed to be a "day on."

"Service is an amazing thing for both the person who does the service and the person benefiting," she said. "Making those connections between local organizations and the students on campus is really important. It's a combination of learning about the community itself and shining a good light on the students here at BGSU."

Sarah Dariano, junior, created the Facebook event for the challenge because she knew it was the best way college students communicate. Besides word of mouth, the Facebook site has generated great feedback with 76 confirmed attendees and people interested in the event asking questions.

Perhaps one of the most frequent questions being asked is why students should volunteer and give their time on their day off, and Dariano's answer is simple.

It is just one day you give back with no cost to yourself except giving your time back to the community, she said.

"One of the biggest parts of service is reflecting back on what you've done and what that impact is," Shouse said. "I really hope the students are able to take away a better understanding of the community they are part of now as BGSU students and also have a better understanding of Martin Luther King's teachings and how those connect to this day."

It is the quality of compassion that Martin Luther King possessed that students should try to imitate if even just for this one day off, Dariano said.

"Look at all he did for people and communities," Dariano said. "If students were even 10 percent as passionate as he was, look at what we could all achieve."

In the future, the Office of Service-Learning hopes to also create a similar day of service on Make A Difference Day in the fall.

If any students wish to participate on Monday, have new ideas or are interested in starting the Make A Difference Day of Service, contact the Office of Service-Learning at slbgsu@bgsu.edu.