APO Honors Lauren Lau with Day of Service

APO+hosted+a+Memorial+Day+for+Lauren+Lau%2C+who+passed+away+last+year.

APO hosted a Memorial Day for Lauren Lau, who passed away last year.

Members of the international service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega (APO) honored the passing of Lauren Lau ’19 at the first annual memorial day of service.

Madeline Kauffman ’18, chair of the committee that planned the day of service, explained that following the sudden passing of Lau last fall, the brothers of her international service fraternity, APO, were “at a complete loss for what had happened and how to move forward.” She said that they knew that they wanted to plan an event in her honor, and decided that the best way to do so was through a day of service. So, she and Katie Knothe ’19, who was Lau’s roommate, began planning the day in her honor.

On Sunday, Oct. 22, around thirty students participated in the first memorial day of service, beginning with a memorial service and kickoff event followed by volunteer projects at Claremont and Thornwald nursing homes and at Pine Grove State Park during the Fall Furnace Festival.

The kickoff and memorial service were held in the Stern Great Room, and APO brothers Knothe and Olivia Termini ’19 spoke about Lau and the day of service. Termini stated that “it was a privilege to know and honor [Lau].” Kauffman said that following the kickoff, participants who remained on campus made about sixty cards, some for service men and women and some for children at Camp Koala, a camp for children who have experienced grief.

Kauffman said that Lau would have been “really embarrassed” if she had known that an entire day of service was created in her memory, but “really happy to hear that other people in the Dickinson community were giving their own time,” which she added was “what Lauren was all about.”

Kauffman and Termini each acknowledged that a day of service was a very fitting way to honor Lau. Termini described Lau as a “very special person who dedicated her life to others.” According to Kauffman, “If you were wondering where Lauren was there was a good chance she was in the community somewhere doing service.”

APO hopes to continue to honor Lau’s memory and serve the community by making the day of service an annual event.