You probably walk past it on a daily basis.

Many people stop to lean up against its walls, or read a book in the shade nearby.

It is the Memorial Garden on the oval at Missouri Southern.

The garden serves to remember students who have passed away during their time here, so that they are not forgotten.

But in the past the garden itself has been forgotten. Often overgrown with weeds and filled with dead vegetation, the garden was a sorry sight this summer whenever I passed by.

One exemplary instructor took it upon himself last weekend to pull those weeds and remove the dead vegetation, and the place looks remarkebly better.

Following this instructor’s example, we at The Chart want to get involved and give back to the campus community.

We understand a campus this size with new buildings coming online and other major projects in the works requires a lot of upkeep. This is why we want to lend a helping hand and tackle one project and one area at a time, beautifying the campus and hopefully encouraging others, both students and employees, to get involved and take ownership.

To get things started, we are announcing our first campus service project. At 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 9, our staff will meet at the Memorial Garden to continue the work that has already been done.

The Physical Plant will provide us with mulch, and we’ll get to work to turn the garden into the place it has the potential to be.

Any students or employees interested in assisting are more than welcome to meet us there.

This is only the first service project we have in the works. Throughout the fall semester, and next spring, we will target areas on campus that we can clean up, trim up and improve.

We will look for input from students and employees as to what areas they feel should be targeted, and what areas are priorities.

It all starts with the Memorial Garden, however.

There are four plaques around the inner ring of the brick garden. There’s Tracy Stults and Jon Hansen, Renard Johnson and Danny Sickles.

All four of them passed away tragically during their time as students at Missouri Southern. And while memory fades and new classes of students enroll, attend classes and pass by the Memorial Garden, making the area stand out again and making the garden a place where students go to relax, to read or just to pass through will ensure that the four individuals are always remembered as Missouri Southern students.

So come join us Thursday afternoon, help us clean up the Memorial Garden, and give us your ideas for future projects.

It’s all about giving back, a little bit at a time.