On Thursday April 21^st Buena Vista University’s faculty, staff, and students alike selflessly rallied together to participate in Buenafication Day. A day entirely devoted to completing acts of service around the campus, community of Storm Lake, and surrounding areas. Once called “Hobo Day”, the practice originated in 1913 and has been a cherishing tradition ever since.

The day started with a slight fog that crept away as quickly as it appeared, delivering bright rays of the sunshine which shone through sparce clouds. The weather cooperated which elated the volunteers who would go on to spend their Thursday mostly outside.

Beginning at nine this morning, pots and pans ricocheted through student housing to wake the students. Soon after, the Victory Bell rung loud and clear, while all proceeded to the opening ceremony. Those in attendance received a Buenafication 2022 t-shirt.

Soon after, Beavers took off on different paths to venture to their service projects of choice. Many took place on the very campus, but several took place within the community that Buena Vista proudly calls home.

“We had today off of classes and that’s always nice even though most students are doing some kind of work around today,” senior Brandon Foster cheerily said.

Ranging from filling divots at the track to volunteering at surrounding schools, and even various park clean ups, there were nothing but smiles all around.

“I think Buenafication Day is giving back and helping the community because they

do so much for BVU,” Buena Vista University sophomore Annie Brennan elaborated.

Brennan was with the Track team who assisted the Presbyterian Church as they cleaned up trash, leaves, and sticks outside of Our Place. Which is a space where members of the Storm Lake community can gather. Some who use this generous space include SALUD, LULAC, AAUW, and Tri-T. Brennan went in to say, “So, it’s just a day where we can give back to them as well.”

Other teams participated in outdoor cleanup as well. On Buena Vista’s campus beach, the Men’s Wrestling team gathered. “I am here with the BVU men’s wrestling team we’re cleaning up the beach on the backside of campus, just cleaning up some leaves and making it look prettier,” Foster explained.

Buena Vista prides itself as hosting the motto, “Education for Service in Action.” Buenafication Day exemplifies just that. The service projects commenced from ten till noon, where afterwards was a picnic lunch. After replenishing, Beavers moved on to the afternoon volunteer activities. Those include bandage rolling, meal packaging, a sand volleyball tournament, spring cleaning in resident halls, and even commuter student projects.

No Beavers were missing in action, even when some are not located on Storm Lake’s campus. Many could and did join on participating in Buenafication Day. To name a few, remote Beavers serviced their communities by volunteering in various ways such as, working at local food shelters, donating to those in need, and even lending a helping hand to their neighbors. Near and far Beavers did what they do best, build.

“To me, Buenafication Day is all about giving back and doing your part- doing what you can. It doesn’t have to be big but just doing something for the community or for someone else,” Foster concluded.