Impact Day 2026 continues Emory’s tradition of service to community

On Saturday, Sept. 26, more than 600 Emory students, faculty, staff and alumni assembled as volunteers to carry on the university’s long tradition of community service by volunteering with Impact Day 2026. 

Students representing Emory’s Atlanta and Oxford campuses and 38 recognized student organizations met other volunteers in the Emory Student Center, donned Impact Day T-shirts and took a few minutes to share a light breakfast provided by the university. 

Then, some departed to serve on-campus nonprofits. Others boarded university shuttle busses to various metro-area destinations. By late afternoon, volunteers had amassed more than 2,450 hours of service. 
 

Serving a range of nonprofits

Impact Day 2026 participants served a variety of nonprofit organizations: 

• Friends of Disabled Adults and Children is a nonprofit that recycles home medical equipment for individuals in need. Volunteers helped refurbish wheelchairs, walkers and hospital beds donated to the organization. 
• The Ronald McDonald House Charities Chapter at Emory University is a student-run campus organization that collaborates with Ronald McDonald House Atlanta to support families with sick or injured children. Volunteers assembled care kits for families facing challenging times.
• Global Growers Network addresses food insecurity and supports local food distribution networks. Volunteers helped set up the Global Growers farmers market at the Indian Creek MARTA station. 
• The Dementia Art Therapy Alliance employs art to enhance the lives of individuals affected by neurodegenerative diseases. Volunteers helped clean up gardens and tend to the assisted living facility at King’s Bridge Memory Care. 

Junior Mikayla Decker volunteered with Impact Day for her third year, serving with Emory’s Pathways Center, which provides resources and experiences for students and alumni to help them reach their full potential. 

“A few years ago, I did Impact Day and it was a lot of fun. I met a lot of new people, so I am excited to be a part of this year’s event,” says Decker, who is majoring in art history with a business minor. “I think it's just a great way to be closer to the people that fill your community, and it also feels really good.”

Sammy Nieder is a junior chemistry and biology double-major and member of the Emory men’s tennis team. He volunteered to fight food insecurity with the Sandwich Project, which provides food to unhoused and food insecure families in the Atlanta area. 

“Our team makes sure we always give back, so we do a lot of volunteer projects throughout the year,” says Nieder. “It shows that Emory students really want to serve the community and not just improve ourselves.”

Fellow student Amala Arun also volunteered with the Sandwich Project for her third Impact Day. 

“Impact Day is a great way to connect with your community and meet new people on campus while also knowing your help is really impactful,” says Arun, a senior majoring in neuroscience and behavioral biology. “We’re all very privileged to go to Emory, so when we have the opportunity to help other people in our community, we should take advantage of it.”
 

A culture of service

Impact Day is the first event of the academic year that is hosted by Volunteer Emory, a popular student-led initiative supported by Campus Life’s Center for Civic and Community Engagement (CCE).

Although Impact Day invites all members of the Emory community to participate, a primary goal is introducing new students to Emory’s tradition of service, according to Byron Jones, CCE’s director for student-led community engagement and staff lead for the event.  

“Impact Day is an essential part of our students’ Emory experience by nurturing the seeds of community service in them that will grow and blossom throughout the future. Emory students also receive something equally important,” says Jones. 

“They build community with one another, forging friendships that extend through their college years and sometimes — like their commitment to service — last a lifetime.”


Photos by Nicolas Burke, Emory Campus Life.