Make A Difference, Make A Day
Last weekend, five members of the St. Lawrence University club women’s rugby team collected rakes, paper bags and work gloves from Eben Holden. They drove fifteen minutes southeast of SLU to the property of Isis Melhado, a 98-year-old Canton local, to volunteer for Make a Difference Day. When they arrived, they were greeted by a small, friendly dog and Isis’s visiting niece, Janice Starmer.
“Are you here for the walnuts?” Starmer asked with a laugh.
“Whatever you need us to do,” replied one of the volunteers, Shannon Tacy ’24. The students quickly got to work raking leaves and bagging fallen black walnuts, chatting about the sunny weather and beautiful riverside property while they worked. MADD is an annual St. Lawrence event where students spend a day volunteering for elderly and high-needs homes as well as local businesses and organizations in the Canton community. This year marks the 25th year of the event, making it one of SLU’s longest-standing traditions, according to Ashlee Downing-Duke, senior associate director of campus activities and head of St. Lawrence University Volunteer Services. The event is technically cosponsored by SLU Volunteer Services and the Newman Club, SLU’s catholic club, but it has changed a lot over the years. “It started really with the Catholic Church having older adults that needed assistance, and it has, like I said, evolved over time,” said Downing-Duke.
The diversity of tasks volunteers help families and businesses with has evolved, too. While it used to be just raking leaves, in recent years, students have helped stack wood, take down composts, and even deinstall air conditioners, according to Downing-Duke. “Anything that will help you be prepared for the winter is kind of how I word it. And then some people interpret that in different ways.”
This year, in particular, MADD looked a lot different than it normally does. Due to a forecast of heavy rain, the event was officially rescheduled from Saturday, Oct. 21 to Saturday, Oct. 28, but that didn’t deter student groups from wanting to volunteer the original weekend. “We ended up having essentially three days of service,” said Downing-Duke. According to her, two athletic teams weren’t available on the original Saturday, and they opted to volunteer on Friday, Oct. 20, instead. Additionally, some Canton residents and businesses requested volunteers but were unable to host them on Saturday, Oct. 28. Luckily, Volunteer Services reached out to the Greek community to help on Oct. 21 despite the cancellation, and five out of the six houses stepped up. As for the rest of the original volunteers, “the hope was that everyone else would come for the new date.”
Despite student organizations’ flexibility and enthusiasm, there was still an overall decline in participants across the two weekends. Before the date change, Volunteer Services members were expecting about 400 to 425 participants for MADD. By the time the weekend of the 28th was over, about 300 people had shown up to volunteer. Downing-Duke suspects that the loss of volunteers post-date change was due to a busier week for athletics and Halloween weekend activities getting in the way. Nevertheless, she recognizes that the losses could have been much worse. “We got to everywhere we had to get to, so I think that’s important for the story and just to know.”
MADD is considered one of SLU’s most important traditions by students and community members alike, and they have ideas of how to ensure its success for many years to come. Tacy, who has volunteered for MADD every year she’s been at SLU, thinks that the best way to make sure students keep showing up is by getting student leaders to remind their group members why the experience is valuable. “It’s good for yourself. It’s good for your team, it’s good for the group you’re going with, and it’s good for the people you’re helping.”
Downing-Duke would like to see a greater presence of student organizations and theme communities at MADD in the future, rather than just athletics and Greek life. She also wants to encourage individuals who aren’t volunteering with a group to feel comfortable participating because it’s proven to be such a valuable experience for everyone involved. “I think this one is really special and different from some of our other traditions that are focused on just the social. It’s really about us connecting with the community.”
When 2:00 p.m. rolled around, the women’s rugby players put down their rakes, wiped their brows, and took a moment to admire their hard work. They had filled more than 15 large bags with dead leaves and walnuts, and Melhado’s front yard was completely transformed. Tacy tiptoed inside to say goodbye to the two women, but Melhado insisted that all the volunteers come inside so she could give them a proper thank you.
“Bring everybody in!” she called from her seat on the living room couch.
All the students filed in and stood in Melhado’s living room, talking about their progress in the yard and playing with the two little dogs at their feet. Many thanks were exchanged, and warm wishes were shared. “We really like your school!” Melhado exclaimed as the volunteers shuffled out.