Service with a smile

Serve Lynchburg event dispenses more than 1,600 volunteers across the city

The storms that gathered in the sky April 22 did not deter the 1,600 Liberty University students, faculty and staff who gathered for Serve Lynchburg, a one-day volunteer initiative to serve more than 50 local organizations throughout the city.

LU Serve coordinated Serve Lynchburg as a way for Liberty to assist and interact with the community, transitioning from a mindset of community service and meeting time requirements to a mindset of community engagement, according Scott
MacLeod, director of local engagement for LU Serve.

“Community engagement is asking people to expand their mind and understand that you live, work and play here to some degree,” MacLeod said.

“Even if you’re here for two years, four years, or longer, you should be rooted
wherever you are.”

MacLeod said students who do not get involved because they view their time in Lynchburg as too brief are less likely to get involved wherever they live next as well.

Even though students may want to get involved in the community, Sam Robillard, a freshman biochemistry major, said between classes, homework and church, it can be hard to find volunteer opportunities.

Because of this challenge, Robillard said he was glad to participate in Serve Lynchburg and have opportunities to get involved.

“Now that I’m more aware of what the needs of the community are, I can hopefully now be more effective, not only as a witness but as a servant,” Robillard said.

The service projects completed included cleaning up trash along the James River, interacting with the residents of nursing homes, prepping community gardens and a variety of other tasks.

Serve Lynchburg provided roughly 10,000 hours of work to the city of Lynchburg, MacLeod said.

Lew Weider, executive director of LU Serve, said this work is being done to not only show Lynchburg that Liberty cares, but to also contribute to the betterment of society and the community.

“We want to do our part and not just be a consumer,” Weider said.

“We’re a part of the Lynchburg family, and we want to be a blessing to our city and local churches.”

Intertwined in the service projects that were done, Weider said Serve Lynchburg was a day of interaction where students got to know the city and each other, and the city got to know the students.

Our students are amazing,” Weider said.

“When community people get to meet our students it really has a big impact on their perception of Liberty University.”

One such interaction was tweeted out by Carissa Johnson, an adjunct professor of English at Liberty.

Johnson said she left her sunroof open while she was busy with Serve Lynchburg and then included pictures that showed an umbrella a Liberty student used to protect the interior from more rain.

In addition to building relationships with the community and faculty, MacLeod said he saw students who did not know each other at the beginning of the day came back as friends wanting to serve together on a regular basis.

“It’s a consolidated amount of time where you’re not separated by socioeconomic background or class structure, so here you are all serving on the same level,” MacLeod said.

“It just connects people when they have to shoulder up with someone.”

The idea for Serve Lynchburg can be traced back to when MacLeod and his wife helped start an event called Serve the City in Brussels, Belgium.

Later, MacLeod started a similar event in Williamsburg, Virginia before moving to Lynchburg five years ago with a desire to organize another service initiative through Liberty as well.

After three years of planning and the past year including heavier budgeting and preparation, MacLeod said he was simultaneously overwhelmed and extremely joyous the vision had finally come to fruition.

“It’s awesome to see that on our first attempt we had well over 1,600 people show up on a nasty, rainy, miserable day,” MacLeod said.

“They weren’t fair-weather friends to the city, but they were true to the city and showed up in masses.”

But for MacLeod and LU Serve, the vision does not stop.

MacLeod said he hopes to see the number of students, faculty and staff involved double or triple next year and for the community to bring additional projects and get more involved after tasting and seeing the quick speed and the good spirit of those who worked.

Extra projects may be needed even if there is not a higher turnout next year, as Robillard said his group finished cleaning up trash along the James River early.

Robillard also said he plans to help with Serve Lynchburg next year and would even like to see more similar opportunities.

“Keeping students plugged into the community, and being aware that as Christians we’re not only called to spread the gospel, but to help our neighbors,” Robillard said.

“Reinforcing that message couldn’t be of more importance.”

Looking forward, Weider said he hopes LU Serve can continue to develop the partnerships necessary to make a real impact in Lynchburg.

Price is a news reporter.