UC Blue Ash librarians, Heather Maloney and Michelle McKinney, took part in the UC Serves pilot event on Friday, May 2, 2014. The event was sponsored by Emerging Leaders in Student Affairs and the Center for Community Engagement and brought together over 100 UC faculty and staff volunteers for painting, cleaning, landscaping and clerical projects throughout the city.

Heather Maloney and Michelle McKinney with the UC Bearcat at the UC Serves Kick-Off event.

Heather Maloney served with colleagues in Clifton and had a blast! In the morning, the group worked with Keep Cincinnati Beautiful to remove graffiti and stickers from public spaces along Calhoun and McMillan Avenues, and in the afternoon, they worked with Spring in Our Steps to clean trash and debris from a historic alley-way near campus as way to enhance pedestrian spaces. Maloney truly appreciated the opportunity to serve the community alongside colleagues, and she can’t wait until next year!

Heather Maloney and fellow UC colleagues show their school spirit. Photo by Michela Buccini via Twitter.

Heather Maloney on graffitti patrol with a few other volunteers.

The Volunteers of America paint crew.

Michelle McKinney, armed with a paintbrush, helped to spruce up the Veterans of America facilities in Mt. Healthy. She was moved by how appreciative the resident veterans were of their efforts and plans to make volunteering for UC Serves a regular part of her year.

UC Serves was a great opportunity to work with UC colleagues from across the university as well as participate in the amazing work of organizations within our communities.