On April 24, 2025, the Buena Vista University community took part in the 112th Buenafication Day to give back to the campus and the Storm Lake community.
BVU students and faculty took part in various volunteer projects such as blanket making, food packaging, moving Jane’s closet, playing bingo, and cleaning community spaces that were affected by the recent storm. These projects are able bring students, staff, and faculty out into the community to make a lasting impact.
Sammantha Kay, Director of Community and Student Engagement, said, “I always tell students that when you come to BVU you’re not just joining the BVU community you’re also joining the Storm Lake community.”
According to Kay, blankets are being donated to the oncology department at Buena Vista Regional Medical Center to give to patients going through treatment. With that, meal packages will be spread out where they’re being sent with some going to SALUD for their Friends with Food program and others being sent to various food insecurity programs in surrounding communities.
On campus, students and staff also worked to move Jane’s closet, an initiative started by BVU social work students in 2019 that provides clothing to children in foster care, from SWOPE to the old University Marketing Community house located east of Liberty Hall.
Marian Riner, Director of the Social Work Program, said, “A lot of times those kiddos living in foster care are very vulnerable and very invisible, so we don’t really see them or hear their stories very much because of the conditions that have happened that have caused them to be in foster care. But they are an underserved population in our area, and they face lot of challenges that they’re overcoming so Jane’s is a great resource to help them.”
A week before Buenafication Day late in the evening on April 17, a massive storm hit Storm Lake. According to a news report by KTIV, the storm created powerful straight-line winds which knocked over trees and ripped off pieces of buildings around the community. It was reported one building in town had an entire wall collapse from the strength of the winds.
Students and faculty helped out off campus providing aid to businesses and people in the Storm Lake community that were affected by the storm damages. One of those off campus places that received help was the Buena Vista Historical Society. According to Lucille Fitzsenry, President of the Buena Vista Historical Society, three fourths of the roof fell in on the building with bricks coming down with it causing major water damage.
“Mostly anything that was metal or glass like that is savable, but there is a lot of paper and books and things that are just saturated that we can’t save unfortunately,” said Fitzsenry.
Whether it be picking up thrown branches from the storm or packaging food, the BVU community stood to its motto “Education for service.”
