Among the many jobs that Grand Valley State University’s Community Service Learning Center does for the community, connecting students with meaningful service is its specialty. To further their mission, the office is hosting an overnight trip in downtown Grand Rapids to engage students in service for the city.

Twice a year, the CSLC takes a group of students downtown to do service. This year, the service done will be geared toward helping refugees and immigrants that have recently moved to West Michigan.

“A group of 15 to 20 Grand Valley students will be staying at a church downtown on Friday night, where we will spend time strengthening group dynamics, getting to know one another, learning about what civic engagement and active citizenship is, and learning about what issue area and site location we will be serving at,” said Brendan Gallagher, coordinator of the event and graduate assistant for the CSLC.

The first night together lets the volunteers get to know one another. The students will learn about what is expected and what will be happening the next day. Saturday is when the students will be serving with the organization.

“On Saturday, we will be serving with local community members at the Masjid At-Tawheed in Grand Rapids,” Gallagher said.

The CSLC is working closely with the Kaufman Interfaith Institute for this project.

“The event provides an opportunity for Grand Valley students to apply the values, skills and knowledge they are acquiring as a student to make a difference in their community,” Gallagher said.

Not only does this event benefit students, but it also greatly benefits the refugees that immigrated here. Coming into a new city knowing no one and having little to nothing can be intimidating and hard, and most people do not even know where to begin, said Gallagher.

The overnight service trip starts Feb. 26 at 4 p.m. and will carry over to Feb. 27.