Service is one way the university is honoring its 75th anniversary
By Lana Sweeten-Shults and Izabela Fogarasi
It’s a big week for Grand Canyon University, with men’s basketball kicking off the season Tuesday in Global Credit Union Arena and sparking the “Biggest Party in College Basketball.” But it’s a big week in another way, this one tied closely to the university's Christian mission to serve others.
It's GCU's Week of Service in celebration of the university's 75th anniversary, when students will delve into more than 1,000 volunteer opportunities across 40 ministries.
The Week of Service officially kicks off today with GCU CityServe Day and culminates Saturday with the semiannual Lopes Go Local home improvement blitz, when hundreds of students will fan out across the neighborhood to complete improvement projects at multiple homes with community partner Habitat for Humanity.
“As a missional, Christ-centered university, service is embedded into everything we do at GCU, so it felt very natural to celebrate our 75th anniversary in this way,” GCU President Brian Mueller said. “Our students have a heart to serve and a desire to help people who are in more vulnerable situations. It has become part of their educational experience.”
Every week at GCU, students have more than 700 chances to volunteer for Local Outreach, Global Outreach and CityServe ministries and events.
Even before today’s official kick-off, students were busy this weekend with two big youth events, Canyon Kids ministry, when students connect with children in the neighborhood through games and other activities, and then the semiannual Local Outreach and Global Outreach Soccer Day, when 200 youth come to campus for a few friendly games of soccer on Prescott Field.
For GCU CityServe Day alone, which runs from 12:30 p.m.-5 p.m. today, students are jumping in to help families in need by sorting and organizing truckloads of household goods in the 88,000-square-foot storage capacity GCU CityServe warehouse. They’ll also be sorting, organizing and boxing clothing to be sent to Title I schools across the Valley via Callahan Care, a nonprofit started by GCU alumnus Connor Froysland. And they’re distributing more than 400 food boxes, helping refurbish computers alongside community partner AZStRUT, and will be heading to homes across the Valley to build twin beds with community partner Sleep in Heavenly Peace.
During the week, students will volunteer as they usually do on any day at GCU. They volunteered this morning at St. Vincent de Paul, where they served breakfast to those experiencing homelessness. Students also will helm everything from skateboard and soccer ministries, to the Temple Dance Ministry to teach neighborhood children dance principles, to teaching English to refugee and immigrant communities, to building relationships with those in the community who are survivors of human trafficking.
"We are always trying to see who are those people in our community that need the most help and how can we be there for them as God’s people and show them the love of Jesus," said Njenga Maina, Global Outreach manager.
And there are also volunteer opportunities every week at Colter Commons, a nearby senior living facility, where students sing karaoke, play games and talk with the facility’s residents.
The week wraps up with Lopes Go Local, when about 200 student volunteers complete Habitat for Humanity painting and landscaping projects to help improve the homes in the surrounding neighborhoods.
GCU’s Week of Service is just one of the ways the university is honoring its 75th anniversary.
In January, the 75th anniversary sculpture, “Grace Tree,” by Surprise, Arizona-based botanical artist Joe Tyler was installed between the Lope Shop and Prescott Field. The metal sculpture, which features the fruit of the Spirit, pays homage to GCU’s Christian mission.
The university also is preparing for its 75th anniversary gala coming up in the spring.
"As a Christian, the call to missions is very clear in the Bible," said senior software development major Liza De Guerengomba, Global Outreach student leader. "There are missions everywhere, even in our own city. You don’t have to go to Africa or Asia to go preach the gospel. There is a lot of that you can do here."
GCU Manager of Internal Communications Lana Sweeten-Shults can be reached at [email protected] or (602) 639-7901.
