San Marcos,
08
March
2016
|
09:28 AM
America/Los_Angeles

Day of Service to Honor César Chávez

By Katie Chappell

Honoring the life and legacy of civil rights activist César Chávez, students, faculty and staff will join together on Thursday, March 31 for an all-campus community service day.

César Chávez Day of Service occurs on a state holiday held in remembrance of the late founder of the United Farm Workers Union and pioneer in the struggles for fair wages and humane working conditions for farm workers and their families. Chávez is revered as one of the greatest American civil rights leaders.

March 31, which commemorates Chavez’s birthday, is a holiday for all CSU campuses.

“César Chávez was ahead of his time in seeing the connection between community and education,” said Kimber Quinney, Faculty Director for Civic Learning. “He defined real education as bringing out the goodness and the best in our students. And he believed the goal of education was service to others, especially service in the community.”

“Each person who spends a day serving the community will honor what Chávez stood for and what education itself stands for,” she added.

Day of Service

Students, faculty, staff and their families are invited to volunteer for the César Chávez Day of Service.

Participants will meet on campus at 8 a.m. and be transported by bus to six local service sites. For about four hours the groups will volunteer for agencies including North County Community Services, Brother Benno's, the City of Oceanside’s Neighborhood Services, Community Resource Center and San Pasqual Academy's Dragon Organics. Projects vary from beautifying a community garden to painting buildings to helping organize a thrift store.

This year for the first time CSUSM at Temecula, the University's branch campus in southwest Riverside county will be joining in the Day of Service, taking volunteers to Habitat for Humanity homes to do exterior repairs and yard work. There are also two sustainability-related projects on CSUSM's main campus. View all the service sites.

Each service site will offer an educational talk, sharing with participants about the needs of the community and the services provided by the respective agencies. After the projects are completed, teams will return to campus for a free lunch and a time of reflection.

"Cesar Chavez Day of Service is a day of unity for our campus community as we honor Cesar Chavez and his legacy through community service, said student Nicolet Ramirez. “What I look forward to the most is helping our local communities by providing service that makes a positive difference."

Register to Participate

Participation in the Day of Service is free, although registration is required by Monday, March 28. Participants will receive a complimentary T-shirt and a free lunch.

To register, visit the César Chávez Day of Service webpage