Troy University students gave back and went to work during TROY’s sixth annual Days of Service.

From Sept. 8 to Sept. 10, approximately 50 to 60 students volunteered at the Boys & Girls Club of Pike and Surrounding Counties in Troy to help with renovations, according to Jonathan Cellon, the coordinator of learning activities at TROY.

Wayne Buchanan, the director of the Club, said their goal was to have wood laminate put down in every room. Thanks to the help they have received, two rooms have already been completed, and two other rooms are currently being worked on.

“This has been an ongoing project,” he said. “We have such great appreciation for Lowe’s, Jonathan, and the Kiwanis Club for their service, time, and dedication to this project.”

The annual event, sponsored by the Office of Civic Engagement, was started to coincide with the National Day of Service on Sept. 11 to “commemorate and reflect on the attacks,” Cellon said. With this being the 15 year anniversary, he said they wanted to have a bigger impact with this year’s project than in years past.

“In the past, we’ve had multiple projects around the city of Troy, which is good, we were just making a very small impact at a number of different places,” he said. “This was better in the sense of having a deeper impact along with being easier to manage.”

Chelsea Agnew, a freshman Air Force ROTC cadet and exercise science and pre-health major from Mobile, Alabama, Viry Garcia, a freshman undeclared major from Decatur, Alabama, and Jamie Ison, a freshman computer science major from Eufaula, Alabama, spent their Friday afternoon cleaning, removing carpet and laying the wood laminate in the remaining rooms of the building so they can be turned into a quiet area for the children to focus on their homework and learning.

For these TROY students, service means much more than a few hours of labor for a few days out of the year.

“I like being around kids and putting a smile on their face,” Agnew said. “That’s my favorite type of service of all.”

Garcia said service means recognizing the opportunity to make a difference in your community by helping those in need. She suggests making meals for the homeless, holding canned food drives or making give-away ready bags of toiletry items.

“Service means helping out, not only the people around you, but the community,” Ison said. “It’s without having the intentions of getting something in return, just doing it out of the kindness of your heart.”

Cellon offered a special thanks to all of the students who came out and participated and encouraged others to go out and make a difference, too.

“For those who weren’t able to make it, the Boys and Girls Club is still open, and it still has need,” he said. “Students can go volunteer Monday through Friday.”

The Club is located at 1318 N. 3 Notch St. in Troy and can be reached at 334-770-2582 for more information.