Volunteer. That is the focus of Make a Difference Day, which drew students to Maucker Union Saturday.

Make A Difference Day is the largest national day of community service, in which the University of Northern Iowa has participated since 2009.

“Make A Difference Day benefits UNI students by allowing them to get involved on campus and in the community, meet new people and donate a few hours to help someone else,” said Katherine Polit, junior communicative disorders major.

The Days of Service Committee, along with the Service and Leadership Council, organized four services for students to carry out.  

For the Habitat for Humanity, students made tie blankets that were to go to families moving into the houses. Other students helped prepare supplies for educational kits to be used by students and teachers who are part of the Fabulous Resources for Energy Education loan program. 

A clean up of College St.  and the creation of sock monkeys for children completed the variety of tasks.

“I volunteer because it helps other people and it’s nice to help other people and it also makes you, as a person, feel good about helping other people,” said Michelle Temeyer,  sophomore accounting and finance double major.

Even though Make A Difference Day happens once a year, there are other ways for students to get involved in volunteer work. 

“A good way to do this is to visit uni.edu/involvement/slc. This is the Service and Leadership Council’s home page. There are always new opportunities for people to sign up for a volunteer event or even join a committee,” Polit said. “There are at least one to three different events every month.”

John Hernandez, freshman studio art major, needed to attend Make a Difference Day for a class, but did so knowing the benefits of volunteering.     

“It gives you the experience to help out other people and not just sit in our dorms,” Hernandez said.