UW students volunteer 10,000 hours and rock

More than 1,000 student volunteers will rock the Orpheum Theatre at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 21, for the University of Wisconsin–Madison's first 10,000 Hours Show.

The event will celebrate the accomplishment of their goal: 10,000 hours volunteered by UW students in one year. Students who volunteered 10 or more hours in the past year registered for a free ticket to the show and are now rewarded with a chance to hear the soulful guitar solos of Robert Randolph and the Family Band.

Although the concert is a reward for UW students volunteering a total of 10,000 hours, concert organizer Katy Resop says the event really isn't about the concert or the 10,000 hours. "10,000 hours is a numerical goal that is visible. The real goal is to get people to volunteer and to create lifelong volunteers," Resop says.

The 10,000 Hours Show is a nationwide volunteer recruitment effort that started in Iowa and has spread to campuses across the United States. UW–Madison, along with the Morgridge Center, the L&S Honors Programs, the Chancellor's Office and other community contributors, created and funded the first Madison concert.

Through the 10,000 Hours Show, almost 1,100 students have volunteered at over 125 different organizations and events. Volunteers range from dedicated long-term senior volunteers to first-time freshmen volunteers. But Resop says no matter what the time commitment of the volunteer the result was the same: students made a difference in the Madison community.

"When one person volunteers on their own, it may seem insignificant or like to a tiny footprint in the grand scheme of things," Resop says. "But when we add up everyone's hours and service to total more than 10,000 hours, everyone can feel like we're making a huge difference and really leaving our mark on this community. That's empowering."