Make a Difference Day provides service to Kokomo community

KOKOMO, Ind. - When most people think of Homecoming, they don't picture moving bales of hay, vacuuming carpets, power washing playground equipment, or cleaning out a storage unit.

But at Indiana University Kokomo, service is built into the festivities.

About two dozen students, faculty, and staff served seven Kokomo area not-for-profit organizations on Friday (October 11) for Make a Difference Day, a volunteer event built into Homecoming 2024 activities.

Volunteers met on campus, then took buses to sites including Bona Vista, Family Services Association of Howard County, Howard County Historical Society, Kokomo Rescue Mission and its Open Arms women's shelter, Narrow Gate Horse Ranch, and Silver Birch of Kokomo.

At the Narrow Gate Horse Ranch, about 10 students lifted bales of hay onto a wagon in the lower pasture, then followed it back to the barns, where they unloaded and stacked the bales for easier access to feed the organization's 10 horses.

Senior Clarissa Kepner said she's participated in Make a Difference Day in prior years, and was happy to do something with horses, since she grew up on a farm with horses.

"Having Make a Difference Day as part of Homecoming spreads the word about volunteer opportunities in the community," said Kepner, from Alexandria. "Today we had seven places able to get people from campus who were willing to put in work for them. This might get people to consider volunteering on a regular basis."

Ben Nicolas, a junior from Atlanta, chose to help at the horse ranch, which uses volunteers to provide therapeutic experiences with horses to at-risk youth.

"I like being outdoors and doing physical labor," he said. "It lets our community know they can count on IU Kokomo."

He said as a political science major, he sees volunteering as an activity that brings people together.

"People helping each other is a very underrated way to make things work well," he said. "It's not hard, and you get to meet others. We're out here with our friends, which makes it fun."

Mya Irvin chose to volunteer for the opportunity to see the horses, and to be helpful.

"More hands make a lighter load," she said. "We're making it so they have less work to do today. We're going to be a part of this community. If we get started early, it might make it easier to volunteer in our communities when we graduate and have more time."

Emily Pier, Narrow Gate's managing director, appreciated their work.

"There is a lot of hay, so having 10 extra hands is so helpful," she said. "It would have taken us a long time to do this by ourselves, so it's a blessing."

At the Howard County Historical Society, five students assisted with window washing, sweeping, dusting, and other clean up in the Elliott House, which the society rents out for weddings and other events.

"We're helping out people who don't have a lot of day-to-day help with their jobs, and taking a load off their plate," said Callie Jordan, from Kokomo.

Grace Lowder, Kokomo, said serving as part of Homecoming builds school spirit.

"It invites our school as a whole to work together, and Homecoming is about school and school spirit," she said. "It brings a lot of us together and helps us build relationships that will take us into the future."

Alumna Alyssa Witter-Pier, curator of the Howard County Historical Society, said the students' work made a difference for her organization.

"With being down a few hands, it was super helpful and beneficial to us, to help us maintain this community asset," she said.

Education is KEY at Indiana University Kokomo.