Baylor Community Will Serve Across Waco Through Biannual Steppin’ Out Service Event

Media Contact: Lori Fogleman, Baylor University Media and Public Relations, 254-710-6275
Follow Lori on Twitter at @LoriBaylorU
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by Jessie Jilovec, student newswriter

WACO, Texas (Nov. 8, 2018) – The Baylor University community will join together for Steppin’ Out, a community service day held each semester to help nonprofit organizations in the Waco community through a variety of service activities from general clean up around the city to major beautification projects. More than 2,100 volunteers from approximately 98 organizations will serve at nearly 70 locations – the largest number of service sites in Steppin’ Out history – on Saturday, Nov. 10.

On Friday, Nov. 9, a kick-off celebration will be held in the SUB Bowl outside the Bill Daniel Student Center, 1311 S. Fifth St. Free shirts and food will be provided for the first 200 students to attend. There also will be lawn games and door prizes.

Megan Taylor, senior biochemistry major from Belton, Texas, and executive director of Steppin’ Out, said students will be able to see the direct impact of their service and physical impact on the lives of those in the Waco community through Steppin’ Out.

“The thing that makes our university neat is seeing the culmination and collaboration of these students coming together for the sole purpose of giving back to the community that hosts the college in which they attend,” Taylor said.

The Steppin’ Out day of service will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at various locations in the greater Waco area. Service activities include cleaning, gardening, organizing, painting, event assistance, yard work and information distribution.

Opportunities new to Steppin’ Out will be a District 1 clean-up with Keep Waco Beautiful and the City of Waco, an Elm Mott clean-up and packing up The Art Center to help them move to a new location in downtown Waco. Also, a volunteer team from the Harmony School of Innovation will join together with Baylor students to serve the community.

Taylor said there are approximately 30 students who have dedicated their time throughout the semester to organize this event, which has been Baylor tradition since 1985. Financial support from on-campus departments and organizations along with local businesses have helped support the success of the event.

Through its more than 30 years of service, Steppin’ Out is nationally recognized as one of the largest one-day community service projects on a college campus.

The relationships made between students and community members are some of the most profound relationships in a college setting, Taylor said. Steppin’ Out complements Baylor’s Where Lights Shine Bright campaign, which strives for students to be a light not only in the Waco community, but in the world, Taylor said.

“Our service event not only fosters a servant heart that is explicitly visible beyond the Steppin’ Out event each semester, but also grows Christian leadership in a unique way that is later translated world wide when our students graduate from Baylor,” Taylor said.
For more information, call 254-710-3199 or email Steppin_Out@baylor.edu.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.