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Community Day of Service to bring college students into the community

By Amy Gage
April 30, 2005

A city-sized collaboration is underway. For the ninth straight year, Community Day of Service (CDOS) is expected to draw more than 200 youth and adults to make a difference in their town.

The event, to be held on Saturday, April 30, from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., is billed as a one-day service plunge into the Northfield community. St. Olaf College is a co-sponsor this year, along with Carleton College and Northfield Public Schools.

As in past years, projects include many clean-up and beautification efforts -- planting flowers in public spaces, gathering litter in city parks, painting railings in downtown Northfield -- but organizers also hope to serve people more directly, with a visit to the Laura Baker School for people with developmental disabilities.

How it Works
Volunteers are urged to log on to the Community Day of Service website to sign up for projects. Or volunteers may simply come to CDOS headquarters at Central Park, adjacent to the old middle school, Saturday beginning at 7:30 a.m. to be assigned work and pick up supplies.

A celebration at the park begins at noon.

Among the many projects planned for volunteers this year are clearing away blocks from the Northfield Hospital demolition site, laying sod at the Spring Creek soccer complex, sprucing up the Northfield Public Library grounds and picking up trash at various parks around town.

"Many of us find ways throughout the year to contribute to Northfield," says CDOS co-chairwoman Candace Lautt, coordinator of ACT (Acting in the Community Together) at Carleton College.

"But the Northfield Community Day of Service really does build community," adds Lautt, who has been involved with CDOS almost since its inception. "The nature and variety of the projects means there's something for everyone."

A Citywide Celebration
Community Day of Service expanded more than a year ago into a citywide effort after the Blandin Community Leadership Retreat. "I got involved last year when I was mayor," says Keith Covey, a Blandin participant who is representing the Northfield Downtown Development Corp. on the CDOS organizing committee this year. "I was so intrigued by the opportunities and needs that I stayed involved. I'm really excited by what this day has done in the past and what it can grow to be in the future."

Carleton College and Northfield Public Schools Community Education and Recreation have organized CDOS from the start. Other sponsors on board since last year include St. Olaf College, the City of Northfield, Stone Cottage Photography, Cannon Valley Lions Club and the Northfield Healthy Community Initiative.

"We are delighted by the broader scope of participation in this year's event," says CDOS co-chairwoman Susan Sanderson, youth programs coordinator at Community Ed and Rec, an original sponsor of the volunteer effort.

Volunteers are invited to celebrate their morning of labor with a picnic at noon in Central Park, just east of Northfield Middle School. The public is welcome to attend.

In addition to free food provided by the Cannon Valley Lions, participants will enjoy performances by the Taiko Drumming Club at St. Olaf College, which specializes in Japanese drumming, and by Intertwining Melodies, a new a cappella singing group at Carleton College.

For more information, call one of the Northfield Community Day of Service committee co-chairs: Susan Sanderson, 507-664-3654, or Candace Lautt, 507-646-4028.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.