The Summer Plunge, a single-day service project, will become an annual tradition if organizers have their way.
The event will be held by the UF’s Center for Leadership and Service on July 19 and will last from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Volunteers meet at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, branch out to different sites and complete service activities, said Angela Garcia, the director of community engagement and service learning.
The event has happened before, but it wasn’t an annual event. Those at the center plan to hold the Summer Plunge annually from now on because of the increase in volunteers from Innovation Academy students here for the summer. Another factor is the new option for volunteers choosing their service site, which they couldn’t do before, she said.
There are other days of service similar to the Summer Plunge that occur during the Fall and Spring. These are the Gator Plunge, held during the Fall, and the MLK Day of Service, which is held in the Spring, Garcia said.
She said at last year’s Summer Plunge, there were around 150 volunteers, and this year they are expecting at least 200.
The service activities at this year’s event will include street cleanups, painting libraries and helping maintain UF’s Wilmot Gardens, a 5-acre garden on the UF campus that gives UF Health Shands patients and other visitors a place to relax and enjoy nature, she said.
Linda Luecking, Wilmot Gardens’ project coordinator, said it’s difficult for the employees to maintain the garden.
“These people can bend, lift and dig,” she said. “And we can do all of that, it just takes us a lot longer.”
Luecking said that during this day of service, volunteers could accomplish in a day what it would take the garden workers all summer to do.
At this year’s event, Luecking said the activities she has planned include planting 70 camellia plants, weeding, laying mulch, painting and general cleanup.
She said they offer students information on how they can stay involved with Wilmot Gardens and even have an incentive program where students will get a brick with their name on it in the garden after completing 50 hours of work.
Tommey Liang, a UF alumnus and one of the site leaders who has been involved in all of the campus service days since 2010, said that students and volunteers learn to appreciate the Gainesville community through citywide locations.
Many of the sites are also partnered with UF organizations such as sororities, fraternities and service clubs.
After the volunteers finish the service activities, they will return to the stadium to do a reflection activity about their day with the site leaders, he said.
Liang said that during reflection in the past, he’s heard how volunteers benefit from the event and their enthusiasm for serving others.
“Just seeing students grow, develop and find somewhere where they can volunteer even after the day of service really makes it all worth it for me,” he said.
