In 2018, student Samuel Sembeba led the first Ignite Service Day at Southwestern Adventist University.  The purpose of this half-day event, where classes were canceled to allow time to attend, was two-fold.  To fill basic needs in the community and to ignite in our SWAU family the passion to serve others.  Except with a break during COVID,  service day has continued as an annual event, moving to a full day in 2024 with over 300 participants fanning out to help our neighbors.

Our purpose of the Ignite Service initiative is to ignite the passion to serve others, including our students, faculty, and staff, who are finding it is indeed more blessed to give than receive.

Ready to make a difference? Explore our ongoing and upcoming service projects by checking out our app, where you can easily sign up for opportunities that match your interests and schedule. Whether you're a student, faculty member, or community partner, your participation helps us drive positive change. Click the button below to access the app and secure your spot in our next impactful project!

In the fall of 2024, the Ignite Service Committee was formed, tasked with the responsibility of growing the program from a one-day event, to an ongoing outreach effort.  In the fall of 2024, the University began partnering with several already existing community service projects:  Meals on Wheels, Keene Church with their monthly LIFT food bank initiative, the new Community Impact Center, Feed my People, serving the homeless in Cleburne, and the Keene Chamber of Commerce planting American flags thereby helping local citizens to commemorate holidays and special events.

Latest Initiative

Recently, a new way to serve the community came out of a Meals on Wheels route.  While delivering a meal, we learned that a local resident’s refrigerator had just broken and she was desperate to save her groceries, having found a free refrigerator in Keene if she picked it up that day.  With no way to accomplish this task, she was overwhelmed with relief when six university students volunteered to muscle move the refrigerator in a truck across town to her.  A new way to meet the basic needs in the community was born. From this experience, a new club was launched, called the 20:35 Club, based on Acts 20:35 “And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”   The 20:35 club will meet once a month to connect with service partners community-wide, with club members volunteering to take action as needs filter in.