Students of the Shippensburg University community along with students from Wilson College came together Saturday to provide service in downtown Shippensburg. The Career and Community Engagement Center (CCEC) was in charge of the service in honor of Martin Luther King Day.

Students arrived at the Ceddia Union Building (CUB) around 8:30 a.m. to register. Following registration, students and members of the CCEC carpooled downtown. The services were split between the Shippensburg Historical Society, located at 52 West King St., and The Harbor right across the street.

Whether for service hours or for the satisfaction of volunteering, there were many faces that arrived at the event to help.

Becka Yerger, a graduate student who interns with CCEC and works with admissions, started everyone off with icebreakers to introduce each other to one another.

There were also workers from Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), which is a program that helps poverty-related issues in America.

After students and people of the community gathered at the Historical Society, the museum’s director, Ethan Serr, introduced himself and prepared to give everyone a tour of the facility.

The volunteers for the service were given work to dosuch as dusting, vacuuming and cleaning the rest of the museum. They were able to dust down all of the glass shelves that held all of the artifacts and photographs. Drinks and snacks were provided for each of the volunteers.

To end the services, students and volunteers were able to attempt to transcribe letters from a collection to submit to their historical record.

For children who attended the event, there was a room called “The Children’s Room.” This included history books about Shippensburg and it’s prominent figures and historical maps of the town’s original structure. Various learning activities through coloring were also available.

While some helped around the museum, others went across the street to help out at The Harbor.

The Harbor is a safe haven for those who struggle or are recovering from addiction.

It is for people to come together to play games such as pool and board games while also enjoying coffee to try and lessen the influences or temptations of alcohol. It was founded in 2013.

The Harbor rented apartments above the building and the volunteers helped in fixing them up for the people who are in recovery and do not have anywhere else to go.

Students were able to bring in furniture from a store in Chambersburg and paint the walls.

“My favorite part was being able to see how the place started off and then seeing it completely change in the matter of three hours and how much we contributed in such little time to such a great cause,” SU sophomore Courtney Cochran said.

For more ways to get involved in community service in the area, CCEC will be holding a Volunteer Networking Expo today at 3:30 p.m. 

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