Concordia Hands for Change

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Tate Hovland, Orientation Chair
orient@cord.edu
Amy Kelly, College Communications and Media Relations director
218-299-3642

First-year and transfer students at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn., will participate in the 26th annual Hands for Change outreach event on Monday, Aug. 26, during new student orientation week. Concordia will send hundreds of volunteers out into the Fargo-Moorhead community to participate in 28 different service projects.

Since 1993, the Hands for Change event has introduced students to their new community. Hands for Change instills the importance of service in relation to the college’s mission statement early on in a student’s college career.

Activities will begin with a send-off ceremony at 8:15 a.m. at the Paul J. Dovre Campanile (rain site Memorial Auditorium). Orientation chair Tate Hovland will preside at the opening ceremony with remarks by Mayor Mahoney, Jon Leiseth, minister for faith and spirituality in action, President William Craft and a send-off by Hovland.

Students will arrive at various service sites at approximately 9:15 a.m. and work until 11:15 a.m. when they will return to campus for lunch. Throughout the afternoon, students will be engaging in conversations and reflection about their service-learning experiences.

Students will gather again at the bell tower from 1-1:20 p.m. for a “Re-Group and Review” with Leiseth kicking off club reflection time. He’ll be talking about the ELCA’s Model of Accompaniment which suggests that service can be more than a transaction; it can be a relationship formed as we walk together with our neighbor as a community, on campus and off. This approach embodies five values of mutuality, vulnerability, inclusivity, empowerment, and sustainability.

Hands for Change projects which are open to the media are listed below with their locations and contact names.

• Dorothy Day Food Pantry
  Judy Holmen – 701-429-1099
  1308 Main Ave., Moorhead
  Helping with yard work and flower beds
  
  
• Washington Elementary
  Tim Mosser –701-799-2051
  1725 Broadway N., Fargo
  Bagging dry beans for Emergency Food Pantry with 4th-grade class
  
  
• Growing Together
  LSS Lutheran Social Services
  Jack Wood –701-238-4028
  3911 20th Ave. S., Fargo
  Working on forming beds for 2020 garden season
  
  
• Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch
  Alicia Acekerson – 701-356-4848
  5289 51st Ave. S., Fargo
  Hanging clothes, dusting and straightening sales floor, etc.
  
  
• Prairie Roots Community Fund
  Barb Villela –701-491-2854
  1214 NP Ave N., Fargo
• Canvassing neighborhood and putting cards on doors to talk about classes
  
  
• River Keepers
  Kim Morris – 701-429-1915
  Hjemkomst Center, Moorhead
  Picking up trash, adhering curb markers next to storm drains, distributing door hangers
  
  
• River Keepers
  Kim Morris – 701-429-1915
  Robert Asp Elementary School, Moorhead
  Picking up trash, adhering curb markers next to storm drains, distributing door hangers
  
  
• Northern Plains Botanic Garden Society
  Vern Hunter – 701-361-9930
  1211 28th Avenue North, Fargo
  Planting chrysanthemums, and/or miscellaneous work in the gardens
  
  
• Boys and Girls Club of the Red River Valley
  Alicia Waldoch – 701-235-2147
  2500 18th St. S., Fargo
  Cleaning, sanitizing and organizing the Fargo Youth Center
  
  
• Boys and Girls Club of the Red River Valley
  Youth Center at Rose Creek, 4809 University Dr. S., Fargo
  Cleaning, sanitizing and organizing
  
  
• FirstLink
  Annie Shove – 701-293-6462
  4357 13th Ave. S., Fargo
  Making cards and helping with mailing project, cleaning lobby
  
  
• Great Plains Food Bank
  Ceili Haigtvedt  – 701-476-9100
  1720 3rd Ave. N., Fargo
  Repackaging bulk food donations, processing donated nonfood items, packing boxes
  
  
• The Learning Patch Child Care Center
  Donna Stark  – 701-232-6644
  806 27th St. N., Fargo
  Spending time with children
  
  
• HERO
  Georgia Dufault  – 701-212-1921
  5012 53rd St. S., Fargo
  Sorting and boxing linens and medical supplies, cleaning equipment

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