Announcing the 2009 Women's Service Day!

Women's Service Day began in 2002 when a few women—passionate about serving their community—volunteered to work on a Habitat house for a single mother. The group blossomed into a team of 50 women—more than one Habitat house could accommodate. Every year since, we’ve organized a day of volunteering specifically for women, reaching a record 149 participants!

You may have known it as Women’s Volunteer Day. We’ve changed the name because, after all, it’s not about who we are but about what we do. It's an opportunity for you to offer your time, skills, and talent to nonprofit organizations in the Holland/Zeeland area, to increase awareness of issues for area women and children, and to network among women in our community.

In the past, we’ve cleaned and organized, painted and finished, landscaped and weeded, cooked and baked, washed windows, assembled lesson plans and materials, organized and led after-school activities for middle school girls, and made cards for families with loved ones who are terminally ill or living in nursing facilities.

This year, Women’s Service Day will be on Thursday, October 1. The day begins at 8:30 a.m. with breakfast at Hope Church in Holland, where you’ll be assigned a task for the day. Participating on work crews and sharing a meal as a group are fun ways to meet new people and make connections. You’ll start your volunteer assignments around 10 a.m., working for 4-6 hours and having lunch on your own as a crew. Participants will be limited to first-registered, first-served, and you must be present at breakfast to get your assignment.

You're already on our mailing list if you've participated before (and haven't changed your e-mail address) or if you or someone else told us you'd like to participate. Please help us expand our community network by inviting your sisters, friends, mothers, grandmothers, aunts, daughters, partners, and colleagues (aged 18 and older, please); just let us know their names and e-mail addresses.

We'll send a registration e-mail later this summer, but for now, save the date! And if you'd like to chat with us or other participants before the event, post comments here or join our Facebook group--just search for Women's Service Day (Holland/Zeeland) and ask to join.