Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University will host its 34^th Tiger Serve Day, sponsored by the Ben M. Elrod Center for Family and Community, on Saturday, Sept. 21.

Tiger Serve Day is a day when 900 to 1,000 Ouachita volunteers meet at 8:30 a.m. to serve more than 100 families as well as non-profit organizations in the Arkadelphia community. Teams of six or seven members serve on projects ranging from painting and mowing to raking leaves and laying mulch.

“Tiger Serve Day is all about connecting with people in the community and showing them Jesus,” said Jessica Stewart, a senior Christian media/communications and mass communications major from Mansfield, Texas. “It's not just about raking leaves.” Stewart has served on the Tiger Serve Day Student Leadership team for three years. The leadership team consists of 20 students who meet in the weeks prior to the day to plan projects, meet with individuals in the community and organize volunteer teams.

Over the last 16 years, Ouachita students, faculty and staff have logged more than 58,000 hours of service. Ian Cosh, OBU’s vice president for community and international engagement, said, “There is no doubt that Ouachita students find joy in service because they understand that there is something very healthy and humanizing about focusing on the needs of others.”

“Tiger Serve Day is a wonderful opportunity for Ouachitonians to give back to this community,” added Judy Duvall, assistant director of the Elrod Center, “I love the way it brings us all together for the common good. It is a reminder of how much we need each other.”

Tiger Serve Day’s theme this semester is “Simply Serve,” a theme Stewart relates back to the example of Jesus: “It's really all about Jesus, and making him famous through a simple act of service.

“I strive to be the kind of person who cares more about others rather than myself, I want to be more like Jesus in that way,” she added. “Tiger Serve Day and other service opportunities are a great way to serve people like Jesus did.”

For more information about Tiger Serve Day, including registration information for needed projects as well as volunteers, visit www.obu.edu/elrod/tigerserveday or call the Elrod Center at (870) 245-5320.

By Kate Cody