Sac State Serves volunteers will spend Saturday morning cleaning Soil Born Farm’s American River Ranch in Rancho Cordova as part of the Community Engagement Center’s activities this fall.

The center needs about 30 volunteers for the cleanup, which will be from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Soil Born Farms is an urban, educational and agricultural project that donates produce to food banks and school programs. At the American River Ranch, Sac State Serves volunteers will be doing maintenance work, such as weeding, drainage and micro-irrigation, said Misty Garcia, coordinator for the Community Engagement Center.

Approximately once a month, Sac State Serves, a branch of the Community Engagement Center, volunteers with nonprofit organizations throughout Sacramento to provide volunteering activities to students, faculty, staff, alumni and Sacramento residents.

Students have the opportunity to donate food, clothing and toys to Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services Donation Center: The Holiday Spirit of Giving Donation Drive, Garcia said.

Donations can be dropped off between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Library, Room 4028.

To entice the community to volunteer their time and donate goods, the slogan “Show your thanks” is be being publicized on fliers throughout campus, Garcia said.

While events for the remainder of the school year have not been fully confirmed, Sac State Serves will volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House in February. The Ronald McDonald House is a volunteer-supported service that offers housing for families who have a child receiving long-term care at a hospital.

In May, Sac State Serves will volunteer at Sacramento Homeless Connect, which connects individuals who are homeless or nearly homeless to resources to get back on their feet.

“By volunteering side by side with faculty, staff and alumni you get a better sense of the overall Sacramento State community,” Garcia said. “It’s a great personal development opportunity, but potentially a professional opportunity with networking and getting new contacts.”

She said volunteering allows one to become aware of the services offered in the community while helping others.

“It’s not so much a give back to the Sacramento community, but a more get connected with and get to know,” Garcia said.

Angelina Samayoa, junior anthropology major, got involved with Sac State Serves during last month’s Halloween Haunt and plans to take part in more of their events.

“(Sac State Serves) is a good way to hear about things you may not have known about,” Samayoa said. “You can do the research (yourself), but Sacramento is a big city.”

She said she likes volunteering because of the opportunity to work with people she has have never worked and with people who have different personalities because this takes her outside her comfort zone.

“Your friends and your family have been around for so long,” she said. “(with volunteering) your thrown into situations where you work in groups and with other people (you don’t know).”

Michelle Curtis can be reached at [email protected].