WOW! A Day spearheads Wesleyan’s efforts to infuse service learning

Twice yearly, the Lane Center for Service and Leadership coordinates the mass-volunteer service effort known as WOW! A Day for Macon. In one day, Wesleyan students, faculty, staff, and alumnae depart from campus to engage in simultaneous work with partner agencies on a broad spectrum of community needs.

On March 20, sixty Wesleyan volunteers served eight different community organizations throughout Macon including the Brookdale Warming Center where they made meals, packed supplies, and organized resources for those who count on the Center as a place of security. At the Bibb County Animal Shelter, students walked, played, and tended to shelter dogs waiting for their forever homes. Homeland Hospice residents were assisted in creating arts and crafts.

"WOW! A Day means a lot to our students and to our community because it teaches students how to serve others using the resources they have: their time, their energy, and their Wesleyan education," said Melissa Rodriguez, director of the Lane Center.

By connecting with community partners, students learned more about future opportunities to serve.

One first-year student and first-time WOW! A Day participant said, "Today was amazing and this was an experience I will never forget. It feels great to help and provide for others. I had a great time and I will definitely be volunteering in the future. I’m so glad and thankful for this opportunity."

For more than a decade, Wesleyan's Lane Center has served as the heart and soul of Wesleyan's ongoing work of preparing women for a lifelong service to others.