Beneficence is the quality of doing good through service and philanthropy. On June 11, Ball State alumni across the globe will be doing good during the third annual Day of Beneficence. On this day, join fellow Cardinals to positively impact your community. Be a part of showing the world Ball State Cardinals’ unique call to beneficence.
The 411 on the day:
- Date: Saturday, June 11
- Location: Local host sites and virtual opportunities
- What: Service projects with fellow Ball State alumni
- Goal: 2,000 volunteers
- Commitment: 2–4 hours of your time doing good for others
- Register a project and volunteer on the Day of Beneficence website
Alumni around the country are encouraged to work with a local organization in their community to set up a service project for June 11. Projects will be confirmed and made available for participant registration to begin on April 15.
Sunni Matters, Second Harvest Foodbank’s Director of Impact, views the Day of Beneficence as a way to share her Cardinal pride. “Cardinals can use this day to show their passion and commitment to community, traits that are embedded into the teachings of Ball State University. It is a great way to give back to the communities that support their neighbors.”
On advising other organizations to participate, Sunni said, “The cohesiveness and camaraderie displayed with the volunteers on this day are like no other. We can utilize the wide variety of skill sets of our volunteers to achieve greatness all in one day.” This year’s upcoming projects for Second Harvest Foodbank include mass sorting and packing projects.
Day of Beneficence Background
The Ball State Day of Beneficence is a community service event conceived during a 2018 Alumni Council meeting. The moniker represents the Cardinals’ gift of time and talent to their communities around the country. The first Day of Beneficence was held in April 2019. However, the following year’s event was canceled due to safety considerations in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In April 2021, the second Day of Beneficence was held with 25 organized projects across five states: California, Indiana, New York, Ohio, and Florida, and contributed more than 50 hours of individual community service.
Of the registered projects, volunteers held two supply drives to collect more than 200 personal hygiene items for the Red Cross and more than 100 school supply items for Muncie Community Schools. Two blood drives were held, resulting in the donation of 26 whole blood units and six double red cell units, potentially impacting up to 114 lives. Through electronic forms, alumni around the country sent 54 notes of welcome to admitted students and 25 notes of congratulations to Ball State graduating seniors.
The Indianapolis Alumni Chapter had the most alumni involvement. They created volunteer opportunities downtown and on each side of the Indianapolis metropolitan area. Chapter board member Bill Bradford coordinated the selection and promotion of the volunteer sites and ensured a chapter board member led each site.
When discussing strategies for developing the project, Bill said, “Our board members identified areas of the Indianapolis Metropolitan area that would garner the most involvement. In total, we organized seven different projects, which were all in different regions of Indianapolis.
Bill offers the following advice for organizing your project, “Time is a scarce resource, so make sure everyone can show up ready to have fun and make an impact right away. Always have a Plan B and thank everyone for their time in the end. Take many pictures, and tell your story on social media platforms.”
Won’t you join fellow Cardinals in demonstrating beneficence on June 11?