PC students continued the tradition of volunteering in locations across Laurens County during the Martin Luther King Day of Service. The volunteer effort to honor the legacy of Dr. King took place on Saturday, Jan. 30.

“PC’s culture is service,” said Hallie Keisler, a junior from Batesburg-Leesville, S.C.

“Our college has been based on the act of service since the 1880s. Years before any of us students arrived in Clinton to unpack and begin our college journey, William Plumer Jacobs was creating waves of service beyond himself.”

Continuing the Tradition of Service

Jacobs founded Thornwell in 1875, five years before founding PC.

“Now, 141 years later,” Keisler said, “Thornwell is the place where most students serve their time on weeknights, volunteering with the Big/Little Sister and Brother program.

“Dr. Jacobs wanted these children to have an opportunity to forge an education and from that came PC. Dr. Jacobs gave life to the words ‘While we live, we serve.'”

The MLK Day of Service is one of the many ways PC students provide their time for the good of others. PC students prepared the bike and walking trail so that the section of the Swamp Rabbit Trail behind Prisma Health Laurens County Hospital can open soon.

PC students also helped add the final touches to a Habitat for Humanity-built home in Clinton. The students planted bushes and did construction work while a few other students tended to animals at the Laurens County Humane Society.

Living the College Motto

Serving the community is a “staple of PC,” according to Keisler.

“We say, “While we live, we serve” so often, but volunteering on the MLK Day of Service is an opportunity for our students to live it out,” she said.

“In this past year each of us has personally seen and experienced the entire world in a state of struggle in every aspect, but this is an open chance to be the small glimpse of light that our world and community need in our new year while serving in the name of a man who brought change through service to our country only a few years ago.”

Students wore masks at all times, even while serving. All service opportunities were held outside with limited attendance to adhere to social distancing and gathering guidelines.

Serve Others  

Student Volunteer Services provides students with opportunities to serve on and off the PC campus. Please visit Student Volunteer Services to learn more about this student-run organization.