Got any plans this weekend?

How about spending some time doing something positive for the Ames and ISU communities?

Saturday is Veishea Service Day, and we encourage everyone to take part.

Veishea’s service projects started following the 2004 riots, as a way to demonstrate that Veishea can give back to the community, rather than disrupt it. That’s an admirable goal, and a point we’d like for the ISU campus to continue to prove.

The projects haven’t always had a huge amount of success. When you tell a bunch of college students to go paint the fence at some random address, the chances that effort is going to fall apart are pretty high.

But this year, Veishea has partnered with some more established groups, like the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Habitat for Humanity, and they’re planning some large-scale, more organized projects.

What’s on the agenda this year?

Volunteers will participate in landscaping projects, housing projects, food drives and more. Ledges State Park will benefit from some cleaning up, and a community garden will be planted at the Beloit Residential Treatment home, a children’s home run by Lutheran Services in Iowa.

Additionally, a larger event called “Stash the Trash” is taking place through a collaboration between Veishea and Keep Iowa State Beautiful. Trash bags and gloves will be provided in the Reiman Gardens parking lot, for students to pick up litter on and around campus. And hey, there are some perks, too — Reiman Gardens will let volunteers in for free Saturday, and Stash the Trash will provide a free lunch.

Online registration for the day’s events has closed, but don’t fret — if you haven’t signed up yet, you can show up at Reiman Gardens Saturday, anytime between 8:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. to register for an event.

Don’t let this opportunity to do something great for your community pass you by.

The headlines are looking pretty bleak these days — it seems like there’s more bad news announced every day. Why not do what you can to add some good news to someone’s life?

And, if for some reason, you don’t want to help others just for the sake of helping, why not make a point?

Veishea still gets a pretty bad rap for the 2004 riots — and last year’s arrests during Veishea weekend didn’t help its reputation. But Veishea is an integral part of the ISU experience, for so much more than the drunken debauchery for which it’s gained so much fame.

By participating in Saturday’s Service Day, you can help show that ISU students care about their community —  that we’re not here to take advantage of Ames’ resources without giving something back.

And if the drunken fun is still important to you, guess what — you can volunteer on Saturday, make someone’s life a little better, and still be home in time to start your Veishea fun whenever you like.

You might even discover that the good feeling you get from helping others is something you’d like to keep going past Saturday’s designated Service Day.

According to the registration form for this year’s Service Day, more than 700 volunteers signed up to do something positive for the ISU community. Let’s top that number this year.

Veishea is more than free music, fried food and cherry pies.

Go out and volunteer. It’s good for you, and it’s good for Iowa State.