More than 100 students volunteered at various sites, including Homeward Animal Shelter, the Red River Zoo, among other local businesses during the recent annual Homecoming event.
NDSU students are dedicated to supporting the Fargo-Moorhead community. The Serve with the Herd event, organized by NDSU’s Volunteer Network, showcases students giving back.
More than 100 students volunteered at various sites, including Homeward Animal Shelter, the Red River Zoo, among other local businesses during the recent annual Homecoming event.
Mariah Christian, a senior psychology and criminal justice double major from Greenbush, Minnesota, said she wants to give back to the community as much as she can. During the Serve with the Herd event, Christian helped make tie-blankets for the Rape and Abuse Crisis Center.
“It just feels really good to do this for people who need it,” she said.
For Aidan Gallagher, seeing the impact volunteering has on a person is the main reason he volunteers every year.
“With volunteering in person, it really establishes a connection, and you get to see people smile,” said Gallagher, a sophomore social work and human development and family science major from Sartell, Minnesota.
Gallagher is a volunteer coordinator with Volunteer Network, an organization that helps students find service opportunities in Fargo-Moorhead and surrounding communities. The organization also coordinates special programs and events throughout the academic year to address community needs and connect local nonprofits to student volunteers with similar interests.
Both Christian and Gallagher encourage students to be active in their community by volunteering.
“Nonprofits depend on volunteer hours and labor that we give and also the joy we provide people,” Gallagher said.
“Give back to people who need it more than you do,” Christian said.
During the 2023-24 academic year students logged over 18,000 hours of service on campus, in the community and across the country. Students are estimated to have raised over $125,000 for local and national charities such as Farm Rescue, Gigi’s Playhouse, the Children’s Miracle Network, St. Jude’s Research Hospital and Court Appointed Special Advocates.
