SCAD SERVE counters COVID-19 with kindness
Written by Ben Elhav, photos courtesy of Lauren Slaydon
While the rest of us have made remarkable efforts just to keep stable during a global pandemic, one SCAD group has managed to ensure the wellbeing of its members and continue to care for the community at large. This will be no surprise, of course, to those already familiar with SERVE, SCAD’s selfless community service organization. Including school staff, students and faculty, SERVE gives hundreds of volunteer hours a year to the communities that have given SCAD so much in Savannah and Atlanta. Caught between a testy toddler and a shift at the food bank, I somehow stole an hour with Assistant Director of Student Involvement Lauren Slaydon, to speak with her about how SERVE has adapted to the circumstances of the pandemic.
Partnering with the Office of Inclusion to identify opportunities in the surrounding community, Slaydon notes that SERVE has done its best to be “COVID-conscious.” Events have been scaled down to 8-10 volunteers with precautions in place, and the group now hosts virtual events open to the SCAD community around the world. Despite the unprecedented year, however, SERVE’s charitable efforts have hardly scaled down. During the fall, they collaborated with March of Dimes in Savannah and Atlanta to create 40 scrapbooks for families with children in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). As the pandemic has introduced a whole host of new challenges for these parents, the scrapbooks are a bonding tool for families to get to know their new baby.
In December, SERVE made 60 tiny tacky sweaters for the NICU babies. Over the course of one week, volunteers used pre-made packs with templates and decorative materials to create the sweet souvenirs. Just before the holidays, SERVE partnered with Loop it Up Savannah to create 200 mindfulness toolkits for local school children. Kept out of art classes because of coronavirus, coloring books, meditation tools, Lego and craft supplies were included to help kids learning virtually continue their creative journey. “We know that communities are still going to need help during the pandemic, and even more help for many,” Slaydon said.
During the upcoming quarter, SERVE will face a series of diverse and exciting challenges, building houses with Habitat for Humanity, meeting hunger needs, helping out with healthcare and leading river clean-ups — one is planned for the turtle-filled Springfield Canal by the Hive. “There’s always something for everybody,” says Slaydon. One virtual event that has her particularly excited will see volunteers give back by knitting and crocheting.
Slaydon promises to reveal more details at the first SERVE general meeting on Friday Jan. 15th, but all members of the SCAD community can sign up for regular news alerts at the SERVE website. The SERVE site also allows students to keep track of their hours, which in turn prove useful for resumes and scholarship applications. It’s easy to get started, and time spent helping others is always time well spent.
