Maddox Vaughn, a student in Meridian Community College's utility lineman program, trims low branches on a tree at St. Patrick Catholic School playground Tuesday while fellow students Jay Carter, left, and Tyler Mann wait to haul off the limbs. More than 850 students, faculty, staff and administrators participated in MCC's annual My College Cares Day.

From performing outdoor yard work to reading to children to cleaning the porch and breezeway at a local retirement community, Meridian Community College students, faculty and staff spread out across the county Tuesday for their annual My College Cares Day.

“At Meridian Community College, My College Cares is a special opportunity for students, faculty and staff to come together and give back to the local community,” said Marion Whiting, MCC’s director of housing and student activities who served as the chairman of the My College Cares Committee.

“The purpose of this day is to foster a spirit of volunteerism, strengthen community bonds and make a positive impact through service projects,” she said. “This day allows participants to dedicate a full day of service to the community that they are a part of. It is a special and wholesome day watching our students come together with all different areas of the community to make a difference.”

Through their community service work, MCC students, faculty, staff and administrators impacted nearly 60 sites, which included schools, retirement homes and senior adult centers, museums, nonprofit organizations, campgrounds, churches and athletic facilities.

They picked up trash, cleaned floors, painted multiple surfaces, decorated for upcoming events, washed animals at shelters and performed yard work. For example, students and instructors from MCC’s utility lineman program cut low-hanging limbs from trees on the playground at St. Patrick Catholic School that had become a safety issue for students. Two MCC faculty members packed food bags at Wesley House Community Center, and MCC’s golf team helped out at Hope Village Thrift Shop.

“We had over 850 volunteers involved in My College Cares with almost 60 sites visited,” Whiting said.

“This campus-wide volunteer initiative is a long-standing tradition beloved by the MCC family and the community,” she said.

Besides Whiting, other My College Cares committee members include MCCers Lowell Martin, Nedra Bradley, Marlo Turner, Josh Taylor, Mandy Hurtt, Dr. Cedric Gathings and Whitney Stevens.