Service Saturdays happen when students get together and do service one Saturday out of the month. Some schools have this and it has been a great success because sometimes students are working during the week and don’t have time. This extra day gives them an opportunity to hang with friends and do something great for their community. Most of these events include a snack or a meal so they keep full while they serve, which is definitely a plus with students. College is about networking and building up that resume so that when they get out there in the real world, they can stand out as someone who has worked hard in school and shown a strong passion for impacting a community. Let students know that if they can make an impact in their community, then employers will trust that they are willing to make an impact in the work place community.

Sites to look at:
- https://www.slu.edu/x25952.xml 
- http://cofcbonner.pbworks.com/Service-Saturdays

Gonzaga University makes it easy for students to access a page where volunteering opportunities is the number one point. Students can go to the student life tab on their homepage and then click opportunities for students. It takes them directly to a page that consists of all kinds of service opportunities. With students, you have to remember to keep it simple. They need to be able to find it essentially within 5 seconds. This generation works fast and tech savvy but if it is not easy to access, they will not use their time to find it. Easy to find and valuable information on service is important when creating a place on your school’s social media sites. Also, give them obvious places:  soup kitchens, hospitals, schools and churches, but specify where some are. Students know these places need volunteers but if they know of an exact location, they can remember it and look at it more concretely.

For Gonzaga’s great and easy to navigate to page: https://www.gonzaga.edu/Student-Life/Get-Involved/Community-Action-and-Service-Learning/Opportunities-for-Students/default.asp

A great event to have is an organization fair at the beginning of the year. Freshman students should be required to go. Teachers of transition courses such as University 101 should require their classes to get out there. They won’t want to go at first, and tell them that. Honesty is key with gaining your student’s trust.  Just be real. Tell them, “I know you probably have something better to do, but this will be something you will not want to miss.” Even if they don’t plan on being involved, they may find a club that they didn’t know about and be inspired to do something with it. Require them to bring back 5 flyers from an organization that interested them. Usually an organization fair will be in the student union and have tables set up for each organization. They usually make flyers to publicize an initial meeting or event for interested candidates. On campuses all over, there are many organizations that get involved with service. Most organizations have to do at least one project for the semester. Some organizations are all about service, it just depends on what their interests are. Tell them to check out the student organization page on the school website, assuming your school has one. If it doesn’t, make one.

So how do you encourage service? What do you do to push hard for your students to get involved with it?