Grand Valley State University is a school with a myriad of organizations that practice community service and giving back. No stranger to this practice, the Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity (CWGE) will be hosting a day of service Friday, Nov. 3. 

The service event will last the duration of the day and will offer the GVSU and local community a day filled with collaborative efforts to work on various projects.

“Our days of service are day-long opportunities to engage with the community in meaningful civic collaboration,” said Jessica Jennrich, director of the CWGE. “The type of work can range from administrative to conducting surveys in neighborhoods to helping fix the grounds of a community partner.”

Jennrich said the days of service have been a part of what the CWGE, formerly known as the Women’s Center, has done since the beginning of its presence at GVSU. 

The CWGE days of service occur several times throughout the academic year. After the event this Friday, the next upcoming date is Friday, Nov. 17.

“Days of service have been a part of CWGE history since the inception of the Center,” Jennrich said. “We have multiple days of service throughout the year with a number of different community partners so that students can understand how to apply the concepts of gender and social justice work.”

GVSU organizations offer public and civil services to several different organizations across West Michigan. In keeping with that tradition, the CWGE offers its support to local community partners that may be in need of services the CWGE can provide. In doing this, Jennrich said, the involved students get a real-life perception and application of the content they may be studying in their courses.

“To the community, it allows for large-scale projects in need of volunteers to be accomplished,” Jennrich said. “For those involved, it allows them to think about how the things they are leaning about in the classroom apply in the world around them.”

Beyond simply giving back to the community, Jennrich said, the CWGE days of service also pave the way for reciprocated relationships with organizations and community partners that benefit both or all parties.

“I think it is more than giving back, but having a reciprocal relationship with those community partners who we value and whose ideas and services we rely upon to do our work, too,” Jennrich said.

For more information on the CWGE days of service or other events, visit www.gvsu.edu/cwge.