It’s that time of the year again. Right after the return to school comes Pepperdine’s biggest service event of the year, Step Forward Day.
The event calls on the Pepperdine student body and community to give up part of their Saturday to provide community to the greater Los Angeles area. This year, the Pepperdine community will serve more than 5,600 people in over 69 locations.
It is estimated that the total amount of work completed will be approximately 5,500 hours. It would take one person around two and a half years to complete that many hours of work alone.
Pepperdine’s Volunteer Center (PVC) special events coordinators, juniors Jennifer Abohosh and Lucy Ryan, are in charge of organizing the event.
“I have been a part of Step Forward Day since my freshman year; however, this will be my first time working behind the scenes to make Step Forward Day happen,” Abohosh said.
“Step Forward Day is a great way to start the year off with service. I think it is important that students know about issues in their community, and by serving on this one day, every participant will get to know an organization in the greater Los Angeles area and learn what they can do to be an advocate for that organization,” Abohosh continued.
Abohosh maintains that both Pepperdine and the greater L.A. community benefit from this one day of service.
Pepperdine students benefit in that “the participants learn about issues in their community, and begin thinking about what further steps they can take to make a change for the better,” Abohosh said.
As for the community, PVC is in charge of reaching out to organizations to determine the organizations’ present needs. The participants of Step Forward Day then assemble to help the organization with said needs.
“This is huge for the organization because a lot of times, the organization just doesn’t have enough man power to complete the specific task,” Abohosh said.
Peter Thompson, director of the PVC, began working with Pepperdine in the Spring of the 2010-2011 academic school year, making this Step Forward Day Thompson’s first.
“From my first day on Pepperdine’s campus I have been waiting to be apart of Step Forward Day. I have been amazed to hear that on such a small campus over 1,600 students, faculty and staff sign up to participate with more than 60 community partners.”
Thompson draws personal understanding of the time commitment of coordinating Step Forward Day from his own experiences in his college years as a student director of a one-day community service event at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas.
“I am looking forward to the energy of over 1,400 students, faculty and staff convening in the Smothers parking lot early on a Saturday morning. I am especially looking forward to seeing these same students, faculty and staff returning to campus in matching T-shirts and collapsing with sweat on their brow and a burger in their hand in Alumni Park.”
Although a one-time service event, Thompson believes the event is important in that it makes volunteering easier for at least one day.
“Step Forward Day takes all obstacles out of your way to volunteer. We provide everything: food, clothing, transportation and friends to serve along side. All you need to do is just show up ready to learn and ready to serve.”
Although it’s only one Saturday morning, both Thompson and Abohosh agree that Step Forward Day can lead to a year or a lifetime full of service.
“Step Forward Day is just one day of service. This day is geared to allow students to become aware of organizations that are in the area and easy to get involved with,” Abohosh stated in an e-mail.
“This one day is just the first ‘step forward’ into what could be a year or even a lifetime full of service, advocacy, and ultimately what could spark a student to be the change they want to see in the world,” concluded Thompson.
