Global Day of Service - Past Projects
View photos from group projects around the world in the 2016 album, 2017 album, and 2018 album, and find others on social media with #GCdayofservice.
2019 Group Service Projects
Grinnell-in-the-Bay Area: Rita McCall ’16 and local alumni volunteered for the morning with the Golden Gates National Parks Conservancy to improve wildlife habitat at Ocean Beach.
Berlin, Germany: Grinnellians in Berlin polished Schöneberger Stolpersteine and then relaxed for a potluck picnic and games.
Grinnell-in-Chicago: Shannon Boyle '05 and fellow Grinnellians volunteered with the Northern Illinois Food Bank to sort and organize food and supplies that will support the needs of suburban and rural residents living with food insecurity.
Grinnell-on-the-Front Range: Jason Reynolds ’94, Jake Joseph ’11, and local alumni mulched trees, painted, and cleaned up Ruby Hill Park with Denver Parks & Recreation.
Grinnell, Iowa: Anna Halpin-Healy ’13, other local alumni, and College staff supported the Prairie Burn 100 fundraiser for Imagine Grinnell by hosting a comfort station for participants at the 10-mile mark on the bike route.
Grinnell-in-London: Andy Brooks '97 and fellow alumni volunteered with Hackney Community Tree Nursery & Edible Forest Garden, which grows trees from seed and cuttings, primarily for planting in Hackney's parks, open spaces, and social housing areas.
Grinnell-in-Los Angeles: Ivy Chang ’01, Jess Isomoto '98, and local alumni volunteered for a Worlds Ocean Day beach clean-up with Surfrider Foundation Los Angeles at Sunset Point in the Pacific Palisades.
Grinnell-in-New York: Hanna Feldman ’14, Rebecca Heller ’11, and other Grinnellians volunteered with Partnerships for Parks, doing horticultural work at Dutch Kills Green in Long Island City. Dutch Kills Green is a former parking lot that is now a 1.5-acre park with wetlands and native plants.
Grinnell-in-Puget Sound: Steve MacFarlane '82, Robert Ruhl '76, and local alumni volunteered with Food Lifeline, whose mission is "ending hunger in Western Washington, by mobilizing resources and engaging opportunities." The group worked on sorting and packing food in their warehouse for distribution to people in need.
Grinnell-in-the-Twin Cities: Kristin Stout ’89 and fellow Grinnellians volunteered at Second Harvest Heartland for food packing and sorting. Their work supported Second Harvest Heartland in distributing food to soup kitchens, homeless shelters, senior community centers and other meal programs in 59 counties across Minnesota and western Wisconsin.
2018 Group Service Projects
Ames, IA: Alice ’98 and Emily ’92 McGary worked with a small group at Mustard Seed Community Farm, harvesting, planting, and caring for vegetable crops that will be shared with local food justice initiatives.
Grinnell-in-Boston: Ashraya Dixit ’14 and local Grinnellians volunteered with Room to Grow and sorted toys according to how they engaged children cognitively or through mobility.
Grinnell-in-Chicago: Andreas Vassilos ’78, Shannon Boyle ’05, and local alumni worked together to clean up the Loyola Beach and Nature Preserve to support migratory bird populations.
Cincinnati, OH: Jim Decker ’75 and John Ellmore ’70 volunteered with Paint the Town and helped to paint a two story, split-level house in Colerain Township.
Grinnell-on-the-Front Range: Renata Heberton ’06 hosted alumni from the Denver area for a day at Angelica Village, which offers shelter, food, and sustained support to people who experience homelessness through poverty or displacement by war and violence. Together, Grinnellians helped to watch and entertain some of the children of the community, and assisted with a number of house maintenance projects.
Grinnell-in-Des Moines: Naomi Ramsay ’14, post-secondary education retention program coordinator, welcomed Grinnellians to the Iowa Homeless Youth Center, which is dedicated exclusively to serving the needs of at-risk and homeless youth. Together, Grinnellians cleaned the art studio, organized clothing donations, and did meal preparation.
Grinnell, IA: Students, staff, alumni, and the local community worked together to roll hundreds of milkweed seedballs with Milkweed Matters, a small organization whose mission is to “increase and breeding and feeding habitat of monarch butterflies and their pollinator friends.” The seedballs rolled by volunteers will be handed out to riders during RAGBRAI, the cross-Iowa bike ride that takes place each July. The Grinnell alumni RAGBRAI team will surely help in tossing more than a few of these seedballs out into the Iowa countryside!
Grinnell-in-New York: Sam Forman ’11, Hanna Feldman ’14, and over 20 Grinnellians volunteered with Partnerships for Parks to collect and remove 25 bags of litter and plant debris, distribute over 5 cubic yards of mulch, and stewarded five street trees in Fred Samuel Playground.
Grinnell-in-Puget Sound: Steve MacFarlane ’82, Robert Ruhl ’76, and Grinnellians in the Seattle area worked with Food Lifeline to sort fruit from 900 lb. crates into 40 lb. boxes for distribution to the network of food banks statewide. Together, the group provided for over 27,000 meals!
Grinnell-in-the-Twin Cities: On June 2, Grinnellians, family, and friends were part of a group of 100 volunteers that planted 3,000 trees and shrubs in Crosby Farm regional park in St. Paul; the park is part of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA). Great River Greening is partnering with the City of St. Paul to restore the park to a more natural state, and make the flood plain healthier and more diverse.
Grinnell-in-Washington, D.C.: Matt Johnson ’08, Rita McCall ’16, and almost 20 other Grinnellians delivered 64 meals to people across the DC area with Food for All DC, an organization that provides home grocery delivery for those not mobile enough to make it to other local organizations for assistance. Many of the families served by Food for All live in food deserts, making it difficult to get food even if you are mobile. The group had tons of energy and overall a great time! They packed food in an amazingly quick assembly line, and then went out in cars to deliver to the food to people in the area. Johnson shared that, “it was great to pack, see Grinnellians, and travel DC for the morning.”
2017 Group Service Projects
Grinnell-in-Boston: Lara Szent-Gyorgyi ’89 and local Grinnellians worked with Cradles to Crayons to inspect, sort, and package essential items for children living in homeless or low-income situations.
Grinnell-in-Chicago: Shannon Boyle ’05and local alumni volunteered at Garfield Park Conservatory, working in Garfield Park to cut tree suckers in the dogwood tree grove.
Cincinnati, OH: Jim Decker ’75 invited local Grinnellians to join him for Paint the Town in Belleville/Dayton, KY.
Grinnell-in-the-Corridor: Grinnellians of the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City area worked with the African American Museum of Iowa to assist with children’s activities and clean up for their Juneteenth Festival.
Grinnell-in-Des Moines: Grinnellians and their families helped with cleaning and maintenance at the Furry Friends Refuge, while others prepared historical records for internet access for the State Historical Society of Iowa.
Grinnell-on-the-Front Range: Denver-area Grinnellians volunteered with Denver Parks and Recreation to mulch trees, remove debris from park areas, and paint at James A. Bible Park.
Grinnell, IA: Grinnell alumni, faculty, staff, and students joined Elizabeth Hill, outreach coordinator for the Center for Prairie Studies and Manager of the Conard Environmental Research Area (CERA), for prairie restoration on the grounds of Drake Community Library. Alumni, students, and their families worked with Chris Bair ’96, environmental and safety coordinator, to sort through items for the New Student Orientation flea market and for donation.
Grinnell-in-New York: Grinnell alumni and students volunteered with Partnerships for Parks and the City Parks Foundation to paint bleachers at the public pool in Jackie Robinson Park.
Grinnell-in-Puget Sound: The Grinnell-in-Puget Sound Regional Planning Committee and fellow Seattle-area alumni volunteered with EarthCorps to preserve and restore habitat along the Longfellow Creek in West Seattle to support the salmon population
Raleigh, N.C.: Mark Finkelstein ’82 and a group of Grinnellians volunteered at the Salvation Army Thrift Store, accepting deliveries of and sorting through donations, including clothing, furniture, and household items.
Toronto, ON: Jack Swenson ’61 and Pam Dryden Rogacki ’64completed a park clean up in Toronto.
Grinnell-in-the-Twin Cities: Grinnellians in the area volunteer at Arc Value Village Thrift Store & Donation Center to unpack, sort, and tag clothing, household goods, books, and other donations. Others worked with Second Harvest Heartland in Golden Valley and Maplewood to sort and package food in the organization’s food bank.
Grinnell-in-Washington, D.C.: Grinnellians in the D.C. area volunteered with the Anacostia Watershed Society to protect and restore the Anacostia River and its watershed communities, and with the Brethren Nutritional Program to paint and preserve the organization’s facility.
2016 Group Service Projects
Grinnell-in-the-Bay Area: The Grinnell-in-the-Bay Area community worked on removing non-native plants to help restore the San Francisco Coastal Habitat of Lands End with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.
Grinnell-in-Boston: The Grinnell-in-Boston community volunteered at Cradles to Crayons, working to assemble 112 packages of general supplies (clothing, diapers, hygiene items, arts and craft supplies, etc.) for children in need. With everyone who volunteered that day, the organization had an impact on more than 500 children.
Grinnell-in-Chicago: The Grinnell-in-Chicago group volunteered with the Greater Chicago Food Depository, sorting and repacking food for distribution to food pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters in Cook County.
Cincinnati, OH: Jim Decker '75 and John Ellmore '70 joined 1,000 other volunteers as a part of Paint the Town. Together, 31 houses were painted in a single day in the Madisonville neighborhood of Cincinnati.
Grinnell-in-Des Moines: The Grinnell-in-Des Moines group volunteered at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge.
Durham, NC: Nancy Kaiser '92, Guy Potter '92, and a group of fellow alumni and families worked on a garden upkeep project at E.K. Powe Elementary School, helping to weed and restore the garden for use by the school.
Grinnell-on-the-Front Range: Working with Denver Parks and Recreation, the Grinnell-on-the-Front Range group helped to paint a bridge, cut willow, and remove weedy trees at Sloan's Lake Park.
Grinnell, IA: More than 65 people worked with Milkweed Matters to make 2,772 milkweed seedballs. The group's contributions put Milkweed Matters beyond their goal of 35,000 seedballs, which will be given to RAGBRAI riders this summer and dispersed throughout the Iowa countryside to support the monarch butterfly population.
Grinnell-in-Los Angeles: Hanna Feldman '14 and the Grinnell-in-L.A. community completed a beach clean up in Santa Monica with Heal the Bay.
New Haven, CT: Pam Soulos '05 and a group of Grinnellians volunteered at Common Ground High School, Urban Farm, and Environmental Education Center and cleared a gardening bed, tilled the soil, fertilized with compost, and planted lettuce and chive seedlings.
New Orleans, LA: In memory of Ragnar Thorisson '11, Leah Krandel '09 and Margie Scribner '10 led a neighborhood beautification project in the Fairgrounds Triangle neighborhood.
Grinnell-in-New York: Volunteering with Partnerships for Parks, Sam Forman '11 and a group of 22 Grinnellians worked together to remove weeds and plant shrubs in an area of St. Nicholas Park.
Peoria/Central IL: Ruth Bittner '80 and Julie Luner '82 led a group in sorting buttons to help restore the Peoria Holocaust Memorial.
Grinnell-in-Puget Sound: The Grinnell-in-Puget Sound group worked with EarthCorps to remove invasive weeds that were competing with native plants that had been planted earlier in the spring. The group spread mulch around the native plantings to help support their growth and survival in Ravenna Park in the University District of Seattle.
Grinnell-in-the-Twin Cities: The first group volunteered for Urban Roots, weeding and planting in urban gardens, and the second group worked with Second Harvest Heartland, sorting and packaging food in their warehouse.
Worldwide bilingual alumni: Alumni around the world translated TED talks as a part of the TED Open Translation Project, and Radka Slamova '13 hosted a gathering for alumni who were participating in Prague, Czech Republic.
2015 Group Service Projects
Grinnell-in-the-Bay Area: Grinnellians enjoyed the opportunity to join others at the National AIDS Memorial to clear weeds and debris, haul mulch and topsoil, and plant trees and shrubs.
Grinnell-in-Boston: Grinnellians gathered at Cradles to Crayons to sort and inspect clothing for quality and appropriateness for kid packs for at risk youth in Massachusetts.108 kids (0-12 years old) were impacted during the shift.
Grinnell-in-Chicago: Alumni from Chicago worked with Great Lakes Alliance and their Adopt-A-Beach Program. The team cleaned up a local beach and helped researchers understand the sources and impacts of pollution by collecting data to help with solutions.
Grinnell, IA: Alumni, current students, staff and family split service between two locations. At the Grin City Collective we transported mulch, removed weeds from the farm and prepared wood for their artists in-residence. On campus we sorted clothing and items for Second Mile and books for the Drake Community Library.
Grinnell-on-the-Front Range: Grinnellians volunteered with Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado to help construct 1,800 feet of trail to replace flood damaged areas at the White Ranch Open Space near Golden, CO. Efforts will help create a sustainable, long lasting trail that will be used by hikers and mountain bikers in the future.
Grinnell-in-New York: Grinnellians between classes of 1965 and 2018 served with Partnerships for Parks to paint fences in Morningside Park.
Grinnell-in-Puget Sound: Grinnellians in Seattle volunteered with Puget Sound Keeper Alliance and collected over 500 pounds of garbage from local waterways before it had the chance to disintegrate and damage marine life.
Grinnell-in-Twin Cities: Participants from the Twin Cities, ranging from the class of 1965 down to a 8 year old, enjoyed serving together at the Second Harvest Heartland food bank by sorting and repacking food.
Grinnell-in-Washington D.C.: Alumni of all ages in DC volunteered with Anacostia Watershed Society and had a great time planting nearly 150 native trees and plants.