Randolph-Macon College’s 11th annual Macon a Difference Day (MaDD) will take place Saturday, April 30, 2016. This RMC tradition, which celebrates Earth Day, began in 2006. The campus-wide community-service initiative brings together the college’s clubs, organizations and academic and administrative departments to clean up the RMC and Ashland communities. Students, staff and faculty volunteer their time and energy and at the same time make connections with the Ashland community.

Projects and Activities
Volunteers can choose from numerous community-service projects, including: Storm Sewer Stenciling; Ashland Visitor Center Spruce-up; Mechumps Creek Cleanup; and landscape maintenance at Hanover County’s Poor Farm Park. Read the entire list of MaDD activities and contact Jayme Watkins, assistant director of student life, at jaymewatkins@rmc.edu to sign up as a volunteer.

Global Youth Service Day
“We are excited to have the opportunity to collaborate with the Hanover County Department of Community Resources on their annual Global Youth Service Day for the fifth consecutive year,” says Watkins, who also oversees the Students Engaged in Responsible Volunteer Experiences (SERVE) program and Student Organizations, and advises the Service Fellows, Interfraternity Council, and College Panhellenic Council.

Celebrated in over 100 countries, Global Youth Service Day is an annual worldwide event that mobilizes millions of young people to improve their communities through service and service-learning.

Partnerships
The Randolph-Macon community prides itself in helping and partnering with others, including the Ashland-Hanover community.

“I am especially grateful to the MaDD Steering Committee: RMC Chaplain Kendra Grimes, Hanover Youth Specialist David Duck, Laurie Preston (head of reference in the McGraw-Page Library), Mayumi Nakamura (assistant director of International Education), and Religious Studies Professor Tim Brown,” says Watkins. “Their hard work in helping organize MaDD means that participants will have a fun, productive day.”