UNC Asheville Freshmen Take On 24 Community Service Projects;
Ninth Annual Bulldog Day a Success

Some 486 new UNC Asheville freshmen lent strong backs and youthful energy to 24 local community service projects on Monday, Aug. 15. This ninth annual “Bulldog Day: A Time of Service” is a key part of the freshman orientation program. UNC Asheville students and their faculty leaders were seen giving a hand to organizations from the Asheville Art Museum to the YWCA.

Emma Savely, 18, of Ashe County, was one of some 20 students working at the UNC Asheville Campus Ministries House. Students there were doing yard work, cleaning deck furniture and erecting a 12-foot tall peace pole marked with the words “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in four languages.

“Volunteering is a good way to connect with the community and I believe it is important to help people as much as possible,” Savely said, while pausing in her efforts to dig a four-foot hole in the rock-hard clay. “I’m also getting to know my fellow students as well. We’re learning to work together to accomplish something difficult while helping out a good cause.”

Tyler Watts, 18, of Asheville, who was taking the lead on digging the hole, agreed. “Community service is community building. It’s important for those spending a lot of time together – like college students who will be together for four years – to have a chance to work together in different ways.”

While Savely, Watts and their classmates worked at this on-campus site, 23 other teams worked at locations around the community. Projects included painting at the ABCCM men’s shelter, clearing brush at the historic South Asheville Cemetery, and cleaning up the playground at Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club.

Many students, like the three picking up debris in Glenn’s Creek at the Asheville Botanical Gardens, had developed an interest in community service while they were in high school and were pleased to discover new opportunities.

Chelsie Mahan, 18, of Winston-Salem, filled her trash bag with broken glass from the stream bed. “I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity while in high school and I really learned to love community service. I think Bulldog Day is great. It’s giving us a fantastic opportunity to see the community and to give back while doing so.”

While the projects were varied, the participants were pretty unanimous about the outcome.

“Quite simply, students are getting involved in the community while getting to know each other,” said Amanda Lindsey, 18, of Hendersonville, while sorting food at Manna Food Bank. “Bulldog Day is the perfect two-for-one deal.”

Media Contacts:

• Merianne Epstein, UNC Asheville Public Information Director, 828/251-6676
• Jill Yarnall, UNC Asheville Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526