About 70 USC Law students began their fall semester with paintbrushes in hand at Community Service Day 2006, held Thursday, Aug. 17. The group of 1L, 2L and .JPG)
LL.M. students painted an exterior fence to beautify the Challengers Boys & Girls Club.
3L Mandana Dayani and 2L Jean Doherty, co-directors of the Community Service Affairs Committee, organized the event, which was sponsored in part by the USC Office of Public Service.
“We are trying to get everyone who’s focused on public interest law to also be focused on public service,” Doherty said. “Not just law, but food, housing, education — so we can make sure people’s needs are being met.”
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The students volunteered their services for a half-day of painting the metal fence that extends the length of nearly two blocks, down 50th and 51st streets alongside the Challengers club at 5029 Vermont Ave. The club serves 3,500 youth living in surrounding neighborhoods.
In addition to beautifying the building, students new to USC Law took the opportunity to mingle outside the law school setting.
“This is an opportunity for them to work side-by-side and make introductions,” Doherty said. She and Dayani plan to hold a second community service event later in the semester.
The event also was sponsored by L.A. Works, a nonprofit organization that performs as many as 50 hands-on community service projects each month. Volunteers with the group had prepped the worn-out fence with primer prior to Thursday’s painting. Dayani is a project leader with the group.
George Hill, director of operations for L.A. Works, said the fresh coats of paint will help the building appear as highly regarded on the outside as it is to the neighborhood on the inside.
“The kids were very excited (when the USC Law students showed up), and they wanted to help,” Hill said. “Any time people volunteer — kids don’t see that often, and it surprises them. This is a good builder of community all the way around.”
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