Day of service part 2: covered in primer

I just got back from a great morning participating in Bates College's National Day of Service. In 2005, Bates College started the program to connect alumni around the country with non-profit groups around the nation for an annual day of service. This is the first year I've participated and it was a great experience.

As the only representative of the class of 2000 at the NYC event (where were you all, slackers?!) it was a great chance for me to meet with alums from earlier years as well as recent grads. And I think I speak for all the Batesies in attendance today that we were incredibly impressed with the professionalism and energy of not only the paid publicolor staff but also the high school and middle school students who really ran the show.

Publicolor has an interesting story. Their mission is to use color, collaboration, design and the painting process to empower students to transform themselves, their schools, and their communities. They teach inner city students--many of whom will not be going on to college--the marketable skill of commercial painting. They also instill pride in the students, who paint their own schools and also nearby community sites.

Many thanks to Bates for giving us all alums a kick in the pants to get out there and contribute to our communities, and to publicolor for taking on a bunch of old desk jockeys and teaching them to paint, too ;)