Midwestern State University hosted its annual Maverick’s Day of Service on Saturday, April 6. The Office of Student Leadership and Involvement coordinated with various non-profit organizations throughout the community for students to volunteer with. 

Education senior Jacob Alvarado, who works at OSLI, helped to coordinate the event. 

“This is just a service event that we do here on campus. It’s our big outreach to campus. It’s to get students integrated into the community through service,” Alvarado said.

OSLI works closely with various non-profits to give students the opportunity to work off campus for a few hours. 

“We outreach to the different non-profit organizations around Wichita Falls so that our students can leave campus and just go integrate themselves,” Alvarado said, adding, “That’s what Mav’s Day of Service is all about.” 

Maverick’s Day of Service helps students create connections within the campus and the community. Alvarado shared how beneficial the event is for students. 

“The most beneficial part of it is seeing the students come out. And they sign up and most of the students here are excited to go,” Alvarado said, continuing, “This is a great time for people to make connections outside of MSU ’cause I feel like, as students, we’re kinda secluded to the four streets that we have but like leaving campus for downtown for whatever service is really helpful for students to just make connections.” 

Volunteering in the community allows students to get involved and strengthen connections in the area.

“It makes our reputation in Wichita Falls good cause we are the only university in Wichita Falls. Wichita Falls isn’t humongous but it’s still a big enough community that I feel there is a disconnect between MSU and the greater Wichita Falls community. So I think, with Mav’s Day of Service, it’s like, oh these students, even though they aren’t from Wichita Falls, they still care about the community,” Alvarado said. 

Alvarado described the need for students to connect with Wichita Falls.

“A lot of students, I feel, here at MSU, we’re kinda nervous to leave the four walls of MSU and once we leave MSU, we have to integrated into a community and this gives us a great opportunity to get out of our comfort zones,” Alvarado said 

Maverick’s Day of Service saw many students support various non-profits in the community. This included biology and chemistry senior Maggie Fleming and respiratory therapy freshman Laura Beth Bryant. 

“My favorite part of Mav’s Day of Service is getting to see fellow student serving for a common goal and getting to work with people in other organizations that we don’t usually associate with,” Fleming said. 

“I wanted to serve my community and give back to the people in my community,” Bryant said. 

Both women volunteered at Sikes Lake, working to clean the trail and lake. 

“I learned to get an appreciation for things that other people are doing as well, as like, parts of my community that I wasn’t aware of. Like seeing the lake be beautiful and clean again was something that I took for granted,” Fleming said. 

Bryant had similar thought on how Maverick’s Day of Service impacted the community.

“It allowed us to leave our campus better than we found it,” Bryant said.

Fleming and Bryant both believe volunteering is an important part of being involved and allows people to work with others. 

“Volunteering shows me that it can bring people and organizations together to work towards a common goal,” Bryant said, adding, “The most important part of volunteering is taking time to give back and serving my community.”