Lansing - Mary Himebauch stretched a piece of rumpled blue fabric over a wooden bench on Saturday afternoon and slowly flattened the material with an iron, framing the start of hours of entertainment for Lansing-area children.
Himebauch, a political science senior, volunteered part of her weekend preparing children’s crafts for the Advent House Ministries, 743 N. Martin Luther King Blvd. in Lansing, as part of MSU Service-Learning Center’s Into the Streets program.
About 145 volunteers from MSU, Lansing Community College and area residents worked at 13 sites to help with issues of homelessness, hunger, domestic violence and community development.
Himebauch, along with other volunteers, made puppet templates and wooden stamps for children who attend the Advent House activities. The ministry serves as a shelter and food kitchen and provides homework tutors and Christian education to children.
Outside the church, supply chain management junior Chidi Onwuzulike scrubbed the inside of a fish tank while marketing freshman Nancy Sidrak poured the hot water from the tank on the cold pavement. The pair cleaned up the church and repotted plants for the ministry.
Onwuzulike said this is the second time he has participated in the program.
“I try to keep my ears tuned to any upcoming events,” he said. “The best thing is that they have a variety of volunteer activities that make it easier for students to spread their horizons.”
Sidrak said she came to the program with her roommate in hopes of helping the community’s children.
“We saw a sign for the program and decided it was time to give back instead of sitting around all the time,” she said. “I like working with children and even though this isn‘t in direct contact with them it gets me behind the scenes.”
The MSU Service-Learning Center began the Into the Streets program in 1991 to connect students with their surrounding community. This year, the program will host monthly events instead of two per year as it did in the past.
Lois Demps, assistant director of the Advent House, said volunteers from Into the Streets have assisted the organization for the past four years.
“We really appreciate the help,” she said. “They bring a fresh energy and are always willing and eager to know what‘s going on.”
Demps said the experience is beneficial to both the volunteers and the recipients of their help.
“Even though they’re not here very long they still set an example for the kids,” she said. “And it’s good for the students to see a world outside of the campus. Many times people don’t understand what a shelter is like, and when they see ours it gives them a different perspective on homeless people.”
Blocks away from the ministry, in the Lansing neighborhood of Fabulous Acres, students and residents clad in plaid shirts, MSU hoodies and work gloves shoveled, edged and raked to clean up Herbert Street.
“It’s just really cool to see the progress,” said criminal justice senior Lisa Christensen. “Two hours after we started working it looks really nice.”
Connie Doyle, Lansing resident and coordinator of the Fabulous Acres project said the community has been cleaning up the neighborhood since the early ’90s and MSU students have helped with the process.
“We love Michigan State students,” she said. “They help so much, and it’s good for the kids to see the students who are in college and use them as role models.”
Afterward, Doyle hosted lunch for the volunteers.
Other volunteer sites included the American Red Cross, Letts Community Center and Woldumar Nature Center.
English senior Andrea Hart, Into the Streets coordinator, said although the turnout wasn’t as large as in previous events, she was pleased with the dedication of the volunteers.
“Everyone was happy with the work and had a lot of fun,” she said.
For more information about Into the Streets contact the MSU Service-Learning Center at (517)353-4400.
Kendra Snyder can be reached at snyderk6@msu.edu.
