West Virginia University students can learn how to participate in volunteer service and service learning opportunities that benefit the Morgantown community at Service Learning Day Tuesday, Sept. 9, from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. in the WVU Mountainlair Commons. The event is sponsored by the WVU Office of Service Learning Programs (OSLP).

Several local non-profit agencies, student service clubs, health care facilities and community volunteer groups are scheduled to participate including Scott’s Run Settlement House, Project Linus, United Way Volunteer Action Center, In Touch and Concerned and the Women’s Career Clothing Closet.

The Technical Assistance and Service Learning (TASL) program will also be featured. TASL is a program funded by a two-year grant from the Claude W. Benedum Foundation. The initiative encourages WVU faculty to incorporate service learning activities into their classes. Students use those concepts to assist local after-school programs with marketing, grant writing, curriculum development and event planning.

Representatives from the Golden Rule Assistance Dogs Program, which is a service learning project funded through a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, will also be available to speak with students. The program involves high school students in training service dogs for local people with disabilities.

WVU student volunteers are also needed for”Make a Difference Day”Saturday, Oct. 25. Students can sign up to assist with local projects including painting and repairing low-income homes, collecting items for charity and assisting with stream and trail cleanup. Those students who sign up for”Make a Difference Day”volunteer activities have the chance to win one of five prepaid shopping cards from a popular national retailer.

“Each year we use Service Learning Day to inform the WVU community, through course work or volunteering, how we can help community-based organizations make the Morgantown area a better place to live,”said Jill Kriesky, OSLP director.

For more information, contact Jill Kriesky or Selena Watkins, 293-8761.