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HUNTINGTON UNIV MAGAZINE

New students to serve Huntington in Volunteer Plunge

FOR RELEASE August 24, 2005

New students spread throughout Huntington County to lend a helping hand during Orientation. This student worked at Horace Mann and Riverview Schools at the Outdoor Classroom by the Wabash River.

HUNTINGTON, IN—Taking part in the Volunteer Plunge has become a rite of initiation for new students at Huntington University.  For the past 12 years, Huntington University’s new students have participated in the Joe Mertz Center Volunteer Plunge. This year 18 teams of freshmen and transfer students will volunteer at various places in the Huntington community, bringing to life HU’s campus mission of impacting the world for Christ.

The Volunteer Plunge is a part day of community service held each year in conjunction with Huntington University’s comprehensive, two-day, new student orientation. Coordinated by the Huntington University Joe Mertz Center for Volunteer Service, the Volunteer Plunge will take place on Saturday, August 27, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.

“Every year the plunge proves to be a great experience for our students as well as the organizations we serve,” Joanne Miller, director of the Joe Mertz Center, said.  “I think it’s a great partnership.  I also think it’s a neat experience for students to share an afternoon together with a common goal – to serve in the community they’re going to call home for the next few years.”

Students will help clean, paint, participate in yard work and other various indoor and outdoor projects throughout the Huntington community.  Service locations for the 2005 Volunteer Plunge include the Youth Services Bureau, the American Red Cross, Eastbrook Ranch, Connecting Friends, Love Inc., Horace Mann and Riverview Elementary Schools, Lincoln Elementary School, YMCA, Kid’s Kampus, the Dan Quayle Center, Huntington Head Start, Lancaster Elementary School, the Boys and Girls Club, Huntington House, Good Shepherd Church, and the Park Department.

Founded in 1992, the Joe Mertz Center for Volunteer Service has become an integral part of Huntington University campus life. Each year, the Joe Mertz Center documents over 10,000 hours of volunteer service contributed by students, faculty and staff.

Huntington University’s Joe Mertz Center for Volunteer Service is a student-directed organization that mobilizes the campus community for Christian service. The Joe Mertz Center aims to involve students in the local community, instill a lifelong tendency toward service and promote the idea that one person can make a difference. The Joe Mertz Center has been listed as an exemplary program in the John Templeton Foundation Honor Roll of Character-Building Colleges.

Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S.News & World Report ranks Huntington among the top comprehensive colleges in the Midwest. Founded in 1897 by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, Huntington University is located on a contemporary, lakeside campus in northeast Indiana. The University is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) and in 2004 was named one of the 50 best Christian places to work by Christianity Today magazine.

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