El Dorado High School’s KAY hosted their second annual Community Service Day on April 19, 2024.
The day began with a reminder of the purpose of the day before students transitioned into their chosen community service projects. Some students went to the district elementary schools to work with younger students. Others went to assisted living facilities to interact with residents, sort clothes at Great Beginnings, or clean up local parks.
There were a variety of service stations set up around the high school. Students could choose to clean out storage and equipment rooms, deep clean the concession stand, pick up trash outside, weed and prep garden beds in the atrium, bake cookies for first responders, make bags for the homeless, or participate in crafts like rock painting, making May Day baskets, painting sun catchers or creating tissue paper flowers to hand out in the community.
All of the available service activities were geared to spruce up their school or local community. They were small ways for students to make a positive impact on the world around them.
In the spirit of community-building, students were able to choose between playing in the second annual STUCO dodgeball tournament in the gym or with board games in the Commons. These activities allow students to practice good sportsmanship, problem-solve, and positively interact with peers to strengthen the school community.
After a lunch on the school lawn, students went into the auditorium to hear from guest speaker Isaac McNary, Vice President of International Development with The Outreach Program. He spoke to students about the importance of living a life of service and what an impact it can have on others.
Since it began in the early 2000s, The Outreach Program has packaged over 800 million meals that have been shipped all across the world. They average about 25,000 meals each year, which support local food pantries as well as international communities.
The Outreach Program’s services center around four prongs: food, water, education, and medicine. In addition to the food packaging, they provide mobile medical clinics to offer immunizations and basic healthcare, water treatment systems, and educational centers in impoverished areas. The water systems they use are built in El Dorado.
“We have a lot of cool organizations right here in El Dorado that would love your help,” McNary said. He stressed to students that dedicating their lives to service makes life better for everyone in the long run.
The Outreach Program’s efforts in Tanzania have decreased the childhood mortality rate from 60 percent in 2007 to only six percent today.