On Saturday, April 14, students from the College will be volunteering in Waterville as part of Colby Cares Day (CCD). “Basically the goal of the event fits perfectly with the CVC’s [Colby Volunteer Center] mission—to provide each member of the Colby community with the opportunity to have a positive influence on the lives of others through volunteerism in the greater Waterville area,” Dana Roberts ’12, director of CVC, said.

This year, over 200 students and 20 Waterville organizations are participating. Numerous sports teams are also signed up for CCD; last year, teams were some of the event’s most prominent supporters. In addition, “This year is special because we have invited faculty to participate in the event as well,” Roberts said. Although “many are busy because it is trustee weekend or [they have] other commitments [but] we have had a few sign up, which is really exciting.”

Some of the activities include gardening outside or shelving books inside at the Waterville Public Library, organizing shelves and participating in store activities at Barrels Community Market, helping and spending time with residents of the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter and helping to set up, run and clean up after a dodge-ball tournament put on by the United Way of Mid-Maine. Roberts said that “this is [CVC’s] biggest one-time event of the year and we are so thrilled to have Colby students come out and serve.”

Wednesday is the last day to sign up for the CCD event. You can sign up on the CVC Facebook event page. For those who are interested in volunteering but cannot participate this weekend, the CVC welcomes all levels of commitment, ranging from weekly to annual events like CCD. “Ultimately, we hope CVC can work as a bridge from Waterville to the entire Colby community, which includes faculty, staff and students,” Roberts said.