On the 17th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, many members of our Gamecock community, including President Harris Pastides, buckled down on a day off to better themselves and the community.
USC has consistently shown that it cares about Columbia. Volunteering makes a huge impact on both the beneficiary and the volunteer, so it’s crucial we have programs in place to fill this important need. We’re proud our university is guiding students to realize the importance of giving back to the community that has given us so much.
On several occasions, Carolina students have done that. We’ve shown we can be selfless, and we frequently show up in great numbers for programs that help fulfill the need for volunteering or donations. We consistently come out in droves for the annual Clemson/Carolina Blood Drive, and once again we turned out for the Day of Service.
We’re impressed a program could entice students to volunteer on their day off. It’s an even greater achievement that this program had more students willing to work than open volunteer spots available, and has done so for the past few years. It’s inspiring, and we hope to see it be repeated throughout the year -— and we hope Monday’s 429 volunteers will return to the organizations they visited and make a lasting impact.
We’re proud to be a part of a university that celebrates volunteerism and makes it a key component of its campus culture. That commitment to working to improve Columbia and USC’s community is, after all, what makes USC great.