A group of 425 OBU students took to the streets of Shawnee during Welcome Week to serve the community through numerous projects as part of OBU’s annual “Serve Shawnee” event. Locations included Cargo Ranch, Project Safe, Jefferson Elementary School, Shawnee Middle School, Primose Retirement Center, Mission Shawnee, Japanese Peace Garden, the Shawnee Depot and more.
Serve Shawnee began in 2001 to show OBU students they can make an important difference in their community. Each new class of students, including both freshman and transfer students, goes out for three hours to different locations around Shawnee. They are led by upperclassmen and staff members, as they participate in a variety of projects including picking up trash, painting, cleaning, pulling weeds at local care facilities and schools, and much more.