For immediate release 

Ouachita Baptist University’s Elrod Center holds Tiger Serve Day 

By Julia Shands 

September 28, 2021 

ARKADELPHIA, Ark.—Ouachita Baptist University’s Elrod Center for Family and Community held its Fall 2021 Tiger Serve Day event on Saturday, Sept. 25. One hundred projects in and around Arkadelphia were completed by 831 Ouachita volunteers who also resumed traditional Tiger Serve Day activities such as visiting the homes of senior adults, yard work and assisting local nonprofit organizations like LightHouse Ministries and The Percy and Donna Malone Child Safety Center.  

“Last year we mainly did trash pickup projects because of the pandemic; everyone can appreciate a road being clean,” said Isabella Bejarano, a sophomore elementary education major from Tyler, Texas, and member of the Tiger Serve Day Leadership Team. “But this fall, we were able to help a lot of senior adults, so volunteers got to have a real meaningful impact on someone’s life, and they will remember that for a long time.” 

Ouachita’s students, faculty and staff joined together and served under this semester’s theme, “UNITED.”  

“Coming through a hard season of COVID, the Tiger Serve Day Leadership Team wanted this day of service to be a day for Ouachita to come together as a campus community united for the good of our community,” said Judy Duvall, associate director of the Elrod Center. “From what we have seen today, our community was greatly encouraged from the practical help given by the care of our volunteers, and the volunteers had a great time working together and experiencing the joy of service.” 

After a month of preparing for Tiger Serve Day, the leadership team was grateful to see more than half of Ouachita’s campus gather in the name of service, utilizing their gifts to help those in need. 

“We got most of Ouachita’s campus out serving, even though it's one the busiest times in the semester for Ouachita students,” said Bejarano. “Everybody is involved in Tiger Tunes and other activities on campus, but they still chose to show up and serve people, and these people appreciate it more than you can even imagine. We are just so thankful and proud of everybody that chose to give up their time and talents so selflessly.” 

Tiger Serve Day is dedicated to service and showing our community the love of Christ. 

“I think Tiger Serve Day is really special because it’s a time when all of the community of Ouachita and the community of Arkadelphia come together and become the hands and feet of Jesus,” said Katelyn Harris, a senior Christian studies major from Bentonville, Ark., and member of the Tiger Serve Day Leadership Team. 

For more information about Tiger Serve Day, contact the Elrod Center at (870) 245-5320 or visit www.obu.edu/serve.