Credit: Provided

Leaders of Into the Streets (ITS) are re-imagining the popular Day of Service student volunteer events with a renewed emphasis on the organization’s goal of promoting a lifetime commitment to service among members of the Cornell community.

Organizers believe that by reducing the volunteer count to 600 student volunteers and creating a survey tracking system to evaluate and assess the changing needs of agencies, the organization can gain a better understanding how Into the Streets affects communities in Tompkins and Chemung counties and the lives of ITS volunteers.

“We hope that these changes will not only encourage students to continue volunteering in the Ithaca community, but will also provide them with the resources to do so,” said ITS president Raquel Zerbib ’17. “Additionally, we hope that it will make the volunteering experience more meaningful and that volunteers are able to learn about the different issues that the agencies we participate with work with.”

Into the Streets is providing volunteers with advance information about all of the agencies participating with the Day of Service this year to give students the chance to do more research on the agency they volunteer with.

The three-survey tracking system will be a new addition to Into the Streets, building on previous evaluations to supply organizers with a comprehensive overview of what volunteers and agencies gained as a result of the event.

Last year, more than 1,200 students volunteered for the Day of Service. This year’s event will take place on Oct. 24. ITS has reached capacity for volunteers.