Montclair State Gives Back to the Community

Nearly 400 Montclair State students joined with alumni, faculty and staff to participate in the National Day of Service and Remembrance on Saturday, September 13. This was the sixth year that Montclair State has participated in this national event, which pays tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks and also honors those who rose up in service in the following days, months and years.

The turnout was amazing, according to Bryan Murdock of Academic Affairs, who helped to organize the event: “We had more people volunteer than in any previous year.”

Volunteers met on Saturday morning for 10 community service projects both on and off campus. On campus, volunteers created cards and a quilt for residents at Gates Manor senior living in Montclair, made sandwiches and assembled bags of food to be distributed to the hungry and painted a portion of the Montclair State community rock.

Other volunteers went off campus to sort and pack food donations at the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, restore a meadow and harden trails at the Hilltop Reservation, work in the garden at the Montclair Historical Society, assist with an adoption booth for PAWS in Montclair and to paint murals, build picnic tables and start a reading garden at School #5 in Paterson.

Montclair State’s National Day of Service was made possible in part by the collaboration of the Volunteer Resource Center, the office of Service-Learning and Community Engagement, Alumni Relations, Center for Student Involvement, Residence Life and Community Relations.

Murdock also expressed thanks to the community partners who helped give students the opportunity to volunteer, including Fairway Market, The NJ Commission on National and Community Service and Liberty Mutual Insurance.

Visit our online gallery for more images from the National Day of Service and Remembrance.

Watch a video about the event at Wired Jersey.