Four years later, Leppla is the president of Spartan Civitan, leading it in volunteer work in the Lansing area.

“(It’s) really fulfilling and rewarding — it makes you really appreciate the things that you have,” she said.

Spartan Civitan is one of many groups on campus that have started local chapters of national organizations with one goal in mind: to make the world a better place.

Upward momentum
Some high school students choose to discontinue their education at the end of senior year because their parents didn’t opt for higher education, said Natalie Graham, an Upward Bound instructor. More than forty years ago, the national Upward Bound program was brought to MSU to encourage those students to go beyond.

“(The program) helps kids who might not have a good opportunity to learn at home,” said Kourtni Hyde, a preveterinary freshman involved in the program.

MSU instructors and students offer tutoring, one-on-one advising and other resources for the high school students in the Lansing area. Graham has been in the program long enough to see dramatic changes in the students the group tutors.

“We’re actually seeing this year’s seniors graduate who were young when I got here,” she said. “All the kids are applying and getting into colleges and really coming into their own.”

Volunteering is something that is very important to Hyde, and she was glad to find an opportunity at MSU.

“Everybody relies on everybody else in one way or another,” Hyde said.

Psychology freshman Alexandria Michelin also has found personal benefits, learning important life skills that will help in the future.

“Communication skills — you have to be able to communicate with kids to get work done,” she said.

Fueling the future
Between school, work, friends, sports and everything else in life, students often find themselves lost in the mix.

For Leppla and members of the Spartan Civitan, this isn’t the case.

From working the sidelines at Special Olympics events to serving meals to children in hospitals at the Ronald McDonald House, 121 South Holmes St., in Lansing, the members of Spartan Civitan make time to donate back to the community that has given them so much, Leppla said.

Public relations sophomore Lauren Shelton, a member of Spartan Civitan, especially enjoys the work the club does at the Heartwood School, 625 Hagadorn Road, in Mason, Mich.

She remembers the dance volunteers held for the students at the school and how much the kids loved learning new dance moves.

“The extra time you put in something can impact kids’ lives,” she said. “You can tell it brightens their lives just a little bit.”

Constant drive
To some students, cleaning up an invasive species of plant doesn’t sound like the typical spring break.

Although some students spent the holiday enjoying the week off, the volunteers of the Students Today Leaders Forever club at MSU donated time and effort to help people across the nation.

The MSU chapter of the national organization was created last spring, said Shelby Crouch, co-founder and international relations sophomore. The group worked across the country and in East Lansing.

As the club piled on a few buses and headed off in different directions, the new members were quiet and nervous to meet their peers.

Through cleaning up parks, picking up trash and volunteering throughout the country, the group gained an appreciation for community service and found new friendships by the end of the trip, she said.

Making some motion
When Kim Dietzel holds the door open for a stranger, she remembers the feeling she gets when someone helps her out.

“(The Do Random Acts of Kindness club) provides just those little moments that get you through the day and put a smile on someone’s face,” the landscape architecture sophomore said.

The Do Random Acts of Kindness performs small gestures of kindness, such as leaving pennies around campus with notes attached that read, “Heads up for a good day,” to promote positivity across campus.

Students can find chalk drawings and games such as hopscotch on sidewalks drawn by club members. They also knock on doors, offering to take out students’ trash. The group will hand out cards today in residence halls — sharing kind notes in Hallmark cards donated to the club.

“It’s just the little things that can turn each day good or bad,” Dietzel said.

Taking off
While other MSU programs have been established and volunteering for years, a program created this semester called the GO Effect MSU, or GO MSU, is just taking shape.

Media arts and technology freshman and visionary director Ken Villapando said the original idea for the club at MSU came from a national movement to change the world, the Go Effect. The program donates to different locations and receives photos of the work it accomplishes.

“That’s what makes GO different from other nonprofit organizations — you can physically see where the money goes.”

Armed with the idea that nothing is impossible, the GO MSU group is making plans and working to donate funds to build a hospital near a children’s orphanage in Lupanga, Tanzania.

Members of GO MSU both help across the nation and locally in East Lansing, where they hope to extend the program to high school students in the area.

“We’re trying to get all ages involved in the Lansing community,” he said.

Although the MSU section of the national organization is brand new, the members hope to expand and grow in the future.

“I see potential in every single student here at MSU,” Villapando said.