PLUNGE '98 TAKES AIM AT SERVICE

Southeast Missouri State University students, faculty and staff will take the "plunge" into community service May 2.

The occasion is "Plunge '98: Diving Into Community Service." The event is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. on Academic Terraces. In case of rain, the gathering place will be the University Center lounge.

Participants will be assigned to an agency needing assistance with a project. At 1 p.m. the volunteers will be taken in teams to the various service project sites.

Plunge '98" is sponsored by the University Center and is being held in conjunction with the Student Activities Council's first Mayfest.

Service projects will involve the Girl Scout Service Center, Radcliffe Care Center, Lutheran Family Services, the Newman Center, Red Cross, Women's Safe House, Cottonwood Center, May Greene Elementary School, Boy Scouts, Head Start, Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation, the Civic Center and ABC Literacy.

Prizes will be awarded to different participating groups.

"Plunge" began in 1997 as an effort to increase awareness about Cape Girardeau's community service outlet. Last year, over 1,200 hours of community service were donated by more than 400 Southeast students, faculty and staff members.

Volunteers participated in neighborhood cleanups, walked dogs, wrote letters to hospitalized children and visited nursing home residents. In addition, over 200 cans of food were collected for FISH and over 50 sack lunches were donated to the Safe House for Women and other local agencies.

Participants can register by writing to Plunge '98, c/o Margaret Barker, Southeast Missouri State University, One University Plaza, MS1200, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63701.