Before college, all of Emily Thomas' attempts at community service were duds.
"I tried to organize raking leaves for senior citizens, and only three people showed up," Thomas said about her senior year of high school in Berkley, Mich.
But this weekend, Thomas wasn't the only person motivated to improve her community.
About 100 MSU students joined her on Saturday for "Into the Streets," an annual volunteer event with activities ranging from running a carnival to hauling trash.
Volunteers traveled in the Lansing area to take part in 14 different projects.
The day allowed MSU students to realize all the community service opportunities that actually exist, organizers said.
At one site, Thomas and six other students picked up gardening gloves and worked at the MSU Botany Greenhouse.
For several hours, they weeded and poured mulch on an outdoor garden to ready it for winter.
"It's a good experience to do something because you want to, not because you have to," said Thomas, a political theory and constitutional democracy sophomore.
The students finished the job in about four and a half hours, which saved John Mugg from more than half a week's worth of work.
"Otherwise I'd have to do it myself," said Mugg, who is the greenhouse manager and an instructor in the plant biology department. "I'm very appreciative."
Saturday gave Joseph Felix a chance to do some community service, something he has not done since starting college.
"I haven't done it in a really long time, so I decided to start back up again," said Felix, an interdisciplinary studies in social science sophomore.
In high school, he wheeled new mothers to their cars and escorted patients at a hospital in Clinton Township, where his grandmother was a patient.
But in college, Felix took a break from volunteering. Now he said he's happy to be back and hopeful that it will increase his chances of graduate school admittance.
"It does boost your self-esteem," Felix said. "It makes you happy."
When Jeff Parmerlee looks at different employers, the companies' involvement in community service projects is a big factor in his decision.
"I think it's important for big corporations to give back," the supply chain management senior said. "That's something I definitely look for when researching companies."
Some students, like Thomas, used the day to accumulate more service hours to add to their résumés.
Thomas, who aspires to be a lawyer, said volunteering would help her get accepted into law school after she graduates.
"Now I can put 'I can weed' on my résumé," Thomas said.
