Students set for service projects

More than 2,000 students from the Anaheim Union High School District will participate in a Servathon geared toward funding future good deeds. The event is set for Jan. 19 to coincide with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and the National Day of Service. Students are charged with completing a variety of community service projects while also collecting donations from sponsors. Organizers hope to collect $75,000 that will go toward the district s new Student Service Foundation, which awards grants to pay for pupil-led community projects. Students will complete more than 130 projects in the first district-wide community service event, including campus cleanups, assisting senior citizens with computers and knocking on doors to encourage the use of smoke alarms in homes, district officials said. Other projects include toy donation drives, planting community gardens and volunteering at an animal shelter. We want our students to have meaningful opportunities to reach out and conn" said Superintendent Michael Matsuda, whose district serves more than 32,000 students living in Anaheim, Buena Bark, Stanton, Cypress and La Palma.