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Record Turnout Expected for Step Forward Day 2010

Step Forward Day volunteers, 2009

On Saturday, Sept. 11, Pepperdine alumni, parents, and friends will be taking part in service projects around campus, across the nation, and around the world as part of the 22nd annual Step Forward Day. What began as a single service project by two students has grown to engage generations of alumni, parents, and friends spanning the globe to live the mission of the University: Freely ye receive; freely give.

While alumni, friends, and family members do important work remotely, organizers expect between 1,400 and 1,500 people in attendance at the Malibu campus to partner with over 30 community partners to help make a difference locally.

"We are trying to involve as many members of the Pepperdine community as possible, in order to continue the tradition of service that is so central to being a Wave," says Meredith Miller, assistant director of the Pepperdine Volunteer Center.

Malibu is where Step Forward Day began in 1988, when two students recognized the need for volunteers in the local community and wanted to share their passion for service with their peers. The projects began as small acts of service from helping with repairs on homes of local senior citizens to planting gardens at Webster Elementary.

Listen to an interview with alumnus Scott Pitts ('89), one of the student founders of Step Forward Day.

Now, 22 years later, the reach of Step Forward Day has grown to include work with over 50 organizations spanning from Ventura County to Downtown Los Angeles and alumni chapters across the nation and world, including the Asia Pacific Waves, who will serve Second Harvest in Tokyo, Japan. Waves of Service will also partner with Club Dust to send an alumni team to Tijuana, Mexico, where they will build two portable homes for families living in extreme poverty. Visit the Alumni website for more details about Step Forward Day options for alumni.

For more information, call (310) 506-4143 or visit the Pepperdine Volunteer Center website.