Wooster Alumni Turn Out for Scots in Service Day

The City of Houston hosted it first Scots In Service Day project on Saturday.

WOOSTER, Ohio - College of Wooster alumni from coast to coast proudly displayed their school colors and their volunteer spirit in 26 cities across the country at the seventh annual Scots in Service Day on Saturday. From Atlanta to Minneapolis and Boston to San Francisco, more than 800 Wooster graduates turned out to participate in a wide range of community-service projects.

In Atlanta, 25 volunteers partnered with Park Pride, an organization that works to revitalize parks and other areas not cared for by the city, to clear the brush that had overtaken historic Clay Family Cemetery.

In Baltimore, Wooster graduates worked alongside the Govans Ecumenical Development Corporation (GEDCO ) to help create a new entryway benefiting senior citizens, called Thanksgiving Place at GEDCO's Stadium Place Project.

Boston-area alumni assisted the Charles River Conservancy by collecting trash, painting benches, and removing invasive species in an effort to maintain the city's prized waterway.

In Chicago, Wooster volunteers inspected, sorted, and packaged some of the more than 40 million pounds of food distributed by the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Cook County's food bank, at its on-site warehouse.

Wooster alumni in Cincinnati volunteered at The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, where they worked with the horticulture staff to move the organization's tropical plants indoors for the winter and prepare for the Jungle Trails program's fall events.

In Cleveland, Scots in Service participants cleaned up litter and helped to freshen up Edgewater Park, while in Columbus, Wooster alumni, friends, and family worked on projects at Linden Recreation Center.

Elsewhere in Ohio, Dayton-area volunteers, raning in age from 1 to 70, worked at Carriage Hill Metropark, a farm that depicts life in 19th century Ohio. Because the farm is in an ash-borer quarantined area, wood can not be imported or exported from its premises, so the 21 participants spent the morning splitting logs and collecting brush for the farm’s
fireplaces and wood burning stoves.

In Wooster, participants chose from one of two projects; (1) building a new information kiosk, repairing trails, mulching, sealing wooden structures, installing signage on trails, and constructing a small bridge at a local park, or (2) partnering with the United Way of Wayne/Holmes Counties to assist with registration, refreshments, and timing mile splits at the annual Heart and Sole fundraising run/walk through Wooster.

Dallas / Fort Worth volunteers helped to sort and pack food, paper products, and health and beauty items for the Tarrant Area Food Bank. Afterwards, the group of 10, which ranged from the Class of 1966 to the Class of 2007, gathered at Joe T. Garcia's, a well-known Mexican restaurant near the Stockyards, to reminisce about their Wooster days and what's happening in their lives today. Meanwhile, downstate in Houston, 25 alumni, parents, and friends celebrated the first Scots in Service project in that city by packaging two tons of food that will be distributed to families in need within the community.

Denver-area alumni once again assisted Butterfly Hope's natural science and gardening program for inner-city schoolchildren who otherwise would have little opportunity to experience the natural world, by winterizing the gardens, painting, building planters, and grooming the grounds.

In Detroit, Wooster alumni, friends, and family worked at the Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan to sort and package donated food items and related personal care products for delivery to area people in need. In just three hours, the group processed 12,000 lbs. of food for distribution to local food banks.

Minneapolis / St. Paul-area alumni, along with friends and family, painted apartments and common spaces for Project for Pride and Living, a non-profit organization that serves low-income persons in the Twin Cities metro area.

In New Jersey, Scots in Service volunteers helped with an indoor fall clean up at St. Lucy's Shelter, a supervised emergency facility for single women and men in need in Jersey City.

In New York City, 23 Wooster alumni from the Class of 1959 to the Class of 2007, turned out to serve meals and distribute food packages to 470 guests at The Father's Heart Ministries on the Lower East Side. While they were signing in and getting their T-shirts, a young woman who was there volunteering with another group (the Junior League of New York), came up and said, "Are you all from The College of Wooster? My grandfather used to teach music there." The woman's name is Sarah Holt, and her grandfather is Stuart Ling. But her connection to the College did not end there. Her cousin, Andrew Olsen, is currently a junior at Wooster.

Philadelphia-area alumni, friends, and family supported the Briar Bush Nature Center in its seasonal clean up by clearing trails and repairing pathways. Across the state, Scots in Service volunteers assisted Pittsburgh-based Family Links, a comprehensive shelter for women and children, by staining and painting a large fence that surrounds the property.

In Phoenix, alumni and friends helped to orchestrate the "Save the Family's" annual fundraising event, which provides homeless families with the tools necessary to achieve long-term financial, parental, and personal self-sufficiency through a comprehensive program of transitional housing, case management, and supportive services.

Also out West, Portland volunteers worked to enhance the natural beauty of one of the city's parks by rebuilding trails, repainting playgrounds, and clearing recently donated properties, while in San Francisco, Wooster alumni volunteered at the St. Anthony Free Dining Room, helping to serve meals, assisting with basic kitchen duties, and preparing for an emergency food program.

Ten St. Louis-area alumni pitched in to deep clean play areas at a local women's shelter. They even took in a stray Ohio Wesleyan graduate who seemed to have a good time wearing Wooster plaid.

In the Raleigh.Durham-area, Scots in Service volunteers partnered with SEEDS, an organization that hosts programs to bring people together to develop sustainable spaces and strengthen community, by working in the gardens, pruning, and composting.

In upstate New York, alumni volunteers collaborated with Foodlink of Rochester to work with donated food in its sorting process so that it could more easily be passed on to those in need.

In Washington D.C., participants partnered with the Alice Ferguson Foundation to clean up the Potomac Watershed at Gravelly Point by picking up and bagging trash that sullies the location.

And finally, in London, four hearty Wooster alumni participated in the first international Scots in Service project. At Belsize Wood in the London Borough of Camden, inaccessible woodland areas were transformed into nature reserves with paths, steps, and bird boxes.

"Once again, Wooster alumni are making a difference," said Sandy Nichols, director of alumni relations. "It was fantastic to see them in action across the country and, for the first time, overseas."