Tessa Coster, Grand Forks, ND, volunteers during "Meet Crookston through Service"

2016 Aug 23

As part of New Student Orientation at the University of Minnesota Crookston, students are introduced to Crookston through a program called "Meet Crookston through Service" before classes even begin.

On Saturday, August 20, 2016, students were at work at different locations around the community under the direction of their student orientation leader and Lisa Loegering, assistant director of community engagement on the Crookston campus.

For a complete photo gallery of "Meet Crookston through Service," visit http://z.umn.edu/17uj.

Tessa Coster, Grand Forks, ND, (58201) spent the morning at Rydell National Wildlife Refuge volunteering as part of this unique service opportunity.

Sites and their respective service activities included:

• Cathedral School/Cathedral Library - Cleaning areas of the school and organizing books in the library
• Care and Share - painting rooms at the Hope House, which shelters families who are homeless
• Crookston Downtown Beautification - cleaning up downtown area (picking up any garbage in streets, lawns, and garden areas)
• Humane Society - bathing animals and walking dogs
• North Country Food Bank (Downtown location), packing food boxes
• Rydell National Wildlife Refuge - removal of invasive species
• Sun, Country, and You - pulling weeds, cleaning up and preparing for upcoming event
• Summit Apartments - cleaning windows (or some other cleaning project), then playing BINGO with and visiting residents
• Washington Elementary School - helping teachers prepare their classrooms
• Crookston Fire Department - Washing fire trucks in preparation for the Ox Cart Days parade
• Riverside Community Garden - Weeding and watering the gardens