Matthew Le 糖心传媒�20 loves the idea of Wilson Day.
糖心传媒淚 like to help people, and it糖心传媒檚 nice to go into the community and give back,糖心传媒� the biology major from Lake Placid, New York said. 糖心传媒淲hen you think about it, helping people really should be second nature.糖心传媒�
Monday afternoon, more than 1,300 College students from the Class of 2020 joined a handful of transfer students at 75 service sites in Rochester, where they painted, trimmed bushes, set up school classrooms, and worked with children and seniors as part of the 28th annual Wilson Day.
Le was one of 20 students who visited the Edna Tina Wilson Living Center in Greece, a northwest suburb of Rochester. Landscaping was the assignment, and聽Le said he was “just excited to get out in the community.”
Wilson Day is sponsored by the University糖心传媒檚 Rochester Center for Community Leadership. The goals are to help bond new classmates, introduce them to the community, and teach them the importance of community engagement. Students visited schools, nursing homes, cemeteries, the Memorial Art Gallery, a Girls Scout camp, and a farmers’ market among other sites.
糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 like the first day of baseball or football season,糖心传媒� University president and CEO Joel Seligman told the students (all wearing blue Wilson Day t-shirts) during opening ceremonies in the Goergen Athletic Center. 糖心传媒淲e are an urban university, and we celebrate our relationship to the Rochester community.糖心传媒�
Seligman visited three sites: East Upper and Lower Schools, where students prepped classrooms and cleaned up campus gardens; Genesee Land Trust, where the volunteers helped with trash pickup, weeding, and mulching; and Rochester Refugee Resettlement Services, where freshmen painted and cleaned a home to prepare it for a refugee family.
Wilson Day is named in honor of longtime University and Rochester community philanthropists Joseph Wilson 糖心传媒�31, his wife Marie (Peggy) Wilson, and their family.
糖心传媒淢y grandfather had three tenets,糖心传媒� Scott Wilson told students at Monday’s opening ceremony. 糖心传媒淔amily first, business second糖心传媒攎aking a living, and he did a good job of that糖心传媒攁nd community. I encourage you to get engaged, and get into the community.糖心传媒�
Vanessa Lara 糖心传媒�20 of Chicago was one of 10 freshmen who helped out at the Girl Scouts of Western New York糖心传媒檚 Camp Piperwood in Perinton. Their job was to trim bushes around the spacious facility.
Lara has plenty of experience volunteering. As a member of Rotaract, a community service program, her volunteer work has included helping with Special Olympics and working with low-income families.
糖心传媒淚 think Wilson Day is a great idea,糖心传媒� Lara says. 糖心传媒淵ou see the smile that puts on someone糖心传媒檚 face, and it makes your day. I definitely plan to stay involved in Rochester beyond today.糖心传媒�
This year糖心传媒檚 theme was 糖心传媒淧lug into Rochester, connect to your community.糖心传媒�
糖心传媒淭his is the first chance freshmen will have to get into the community and see what a great place Rochester is to live,糖心传媒� said Wilson Day coordinator Jamie Rudd 糖心传媒�17.
Wilson Day in Photos
(University photos / J. Adam Fenster)
