WARTBURG ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO VOLUNTEER

KAYLA MARTHALER, STAFF WRITER

“Service is one of the four basic pillars of our mission statement and looking back at the Lutheran Heritage of the college, service is a huge component of that as well,” Kristin Teig Torres, director of community engagement, said. Many Wartburg students take advantage of volunteer and service opportunities on campus and in the surrounding area.

“Service has always been a big part of my life,” Mattie Barr, a third-year student and Wartburg service trip student director, said. “Before I came to Wartburg, I had a dream of becoming a teacher, which is a service-related field. When I arrived, Wartburg helped and is helping me to pursue that dream. The endless amount of opportunities that I have gotten to be a part of has made the journey so unique. Serving challenges you to step outside your own life and give into others.”

Wartburg College offers several volunteer opportunities through the Volunteer Action Center including Demonstration Show, Retrieving Freedom, Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service and service trips.

“We are going right into Saint Elizabeth week, which has some opportunities for service and education around service,” Teig Torres said. We also have courses that have a service-learning component, and the Residence is a service-based residence hall that includes service-learning components.”

“We want students to graduate and become engaged citizens, and to give back knowing that it can be a help within your own neighborhood or right next door, to somewhere in your community or across the world,” Teig Torres said.

For more information on service and volunteering, go to wartburg.edu/vac/.