Community Engagement Events

Exact dates can be found on the events calendar.

Annually 

Gateway and Stellar Day of Service

Students in our Gateway and Stellar projects spend a week planning and implementing service projects in August.

Fall Semester Day of Service

Each year, the Office of Community Engagement hosts a Day of Service in September. The goal of the event is to introduce students to volunteer opportunities and agencies in the community and to provide needed services for those agencies. The day includes pre-service training, a hands-on service opportunity, reflection, and snacks.

Past projects have included painting the floor of the Morris Theatre, cleaning trash and weeding the pocket garden in downtown Morris, river clean up along the Pomme De Terre river, and playing bingo at Grandview nursing home. There were approximately 60 individuals who participated in the projects.

Trick or Can

Each Halloween, the Office of Community Engagement sponsors an event designed to raise money and food/toiletries for the Stevens County Food Shelf.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Days of Service

Volunteers learn about and help preserve the local prairie habitat. These days of service vary depending on weather patterns but typically happen in August-October.

Gather in the Park

Gather in the Park is a domestic violence awareness and prevention event planned in conjunction with Someplace Safe each October and held at East Side Park in Morris.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service

In collaboration with the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Intercultural Programs, the Office of Residential Life, and Student Engagement & Events, the Office of Community Engagement provides a day of diversity training, programming, and service designed to honor Martin Luther King’s life and legacy on the Martin Luther King holiday in January.

Bread ‘N Bowls

Bread 'N Bowls is an awareness-raising event focused on combating violence and poverty held in late April and early May. UMM and Morris Area art students and local artists donate ceramic bowls, and area organizations and businesses provide soup, bread, and desserts. A donation to Someplace Safe, the Stevens County Food Shelf, or the Prairie Renaissance Cultural Alliance will get participants a meal and handmade bowl.

Monthly

Morris Community Meal

Sharing food is a key way to build community. Six times a year, a free meal is served to anyone who wants to come. Regional businesses and organizations fund the meal, and students, faculty, staff, and community members cook together and share a meal. Morris Community Meal uses local foods and sustainable practices as much as possible, and strives to share food from a variety of cultures. Anyone can get involved as a co-sponsor, volunteer, or attendee!

Soup and Substance

Each month, the Office of Community Engagement sponsors a dialogue about social issues affecting our campus and local community. The event began as a student-initiated series focused on issues of diversity and oppression; we continue to focus on how to make the community more welcoming and inclusive through this series and welcome co-sponsorships by student or community organizations. Look at the campus events calendar for dates and topics.