Johns Hopkins University volunteers fanned out across Baltimore on Saturday to plant, paint, build, and clean up on the fifth annual President's Day of Service.
Nearly 1,000 people, including representatives from 65 student organizations, took part, serving 45 partner organizations, university President Ronald J. Daniels said. When the event was first held in 2009, about 200 volunteers pitched in to help 15 organizations, Daniels noted.
"Of course, there is one constant—the enthusiasm of our students, faculty, and staff for coming out as one university and joining forces with our partners across the city to bolster our communities," Daniels added.
"Whether you are heading out to clean up the harbor, down to our HCPI partners site in Station North to beautify a vacant lot, or over to Remington for neighborhood clean-up, I hope you are able to carry the essence of this experience forward, deepening the connections you make to Baltimore and all the communities you call home."
Other activities included fresh produce distribution at the Franciscan Center south of the university's Homewood campus, playground clean-up at the Henderson Hopkins School in East Baltimore, and food sorting and packing at the Maryland Food Bank.
Johns Hopkins Alumni Association chapters in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Seattle, and Hawaii simultaneously conducted service projects in their cities. The East Baltimore medical campus, including the schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health, held a related community outreach event Oct. 5 that was sponsored by the Student Outreach Resource Center.
In all, 1,250 people registered to volunteer in President's Day of Service projects, the highest in the event's history.
The President's Day of Service is organized by the Johns Hopkins Center for Social Concern and funded by the Johns Hopkins Parents Fund.
