Originally published March 29, 2011 at 7:23 p.m., updated March 29, 2011 at 7:23 p.m.
Video
Into the Streets Week begins
KU students are finding ways to help the Lawrence community. Today is the beginning of "Into the Streets Week," a program organized by KU's Center for Community Outreach.
This week, students will be taking to the streets, but not for basketball or a downtown parade. Instead, hundreds of students will come together to raise awareness of social issues in the community and help those in need.
Into the Streets Week is an annual event to raise awareness of social issues in the community and help those in need. The week kicks off at 7 p.m. Wednesday night at the Lied Center with a lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York Times bestseller “Three Cups of Tea.”
Into the Streets Week, hosted by the Center for Community Outreach, is an annual event “dedicated to promote volunteerism and civic engagement on campus and in Lawrence,” Megan Watson, co-coordinator of the event, said.
The week kicks off at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Lied Center with a lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York Times bestseller “Three Cups of Tea.” Mortenson’s book recounts his failed attempt to climb the world’s second-highest mountain, K2 in Pakistan, and how, after becoming weak and lost on his descent and receiving aid from a village in Pakistan, he was inspired to construct more than 170 schools in some of the most remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
On his website, Mortenson says he hopes, with this book and his work, to replace guns with pencils, rhetoric with reading and bombs with books. Students can pick up a free ticket for the lecture in the SUA office in the Kansas Union.
Into the Streets Week is focused on what is called The Big Event, a one-day service project that originated at Texas A&M in 1982 and is new to the University this year. With the help of Student Senate and Student Union Activities, volunteers will meet at the Memorial Stadium at 10 a.m. Thursday to be assigned a volunteer project for the day.
“We want to introduce students to something they wouldn’t have otherwise known about,” Watson said. “It’s important to give back to the community we are so a part of.”
Amilia Winter, a freshman from Kansas City, Kan., is trying to involve her sorority, Kappa Delta, in different projects throughout the week.
“I think it is great for students to be involved; this is a time when we are growing and really entering society. We are the future of the United States, and in order to be successful we need to understand what is going on around us,” Winter said.
Students have multiple opportunities to volunteer throughout the week and most days have multiple events. Some events are smaller and will only take a few hours, like the benefit show at the Jackpot on April 1, where hip-hop artists Ben Kress, Dutch Newman and Soul Servers will perform. Some projects are a little larger, such as the Fast for Change, which will also be on April 1. The students who choose to fast for the day will donate the money they would have otherwise spent on food to Jubilee Café, which feeds Lawrence’s homeless.
“To make a change, one has to start with themselves and the community around them,” Winter said. “So as a campus, we students should be aware of our city, not just the campus. We live in Lawrence and make up a lot of the people in this town, so we should help out and take care of it.”
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Into the Streets
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— Edited by Amanda Sorell
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