October 14, 2023: Small Change Creates an Impact

This year’s Fall Day of Service had 31 participants go out into the Eugene-Springfield community to serve! Dispersed among four community partner project sites, students explored how seemingly small change can snowball into larger impacts.

We began the day discussing adrienne maree brown’s Emergent Strategy. We looked at how we can turn toward nature and seek its wisdom to help guide our social movements. Discussion and reflections helped our teams understand the ripple-effects of the impacts they were making just later that morning out in the community. From there, we traveled to our community partners to serve and apply our knowledge about how change is made!

Our teams were spread across town, some working with organizations like Shelter Care to help make their patio space usable for staff and clients. It was also a garden-filled day, where volunteers pitched in at Food for Lane County’s Grassroots Garden and Youth Farm. We also spent time at Olive Plaza’s “Fall Into Motion” event to help keep senior citizens active in the colder months.

The day was inspiring, but don’t just hear it from us. Here are some testimonies from those who served:

“[This] has made me aware of what is going on in the community around me and has motivated me to want to help more.”  — Participant who served at GrassRoots Garden

“Through this experience I have learned a lot about food insecurity, especially on the local level, and how sustainable farming can be very impactful.” — Participant who served at Youth Farm

“It has allowed me to have fun and get to know new people while making positive change.” — Participant who served at Youth Farm