Programs
Blue Zones Project of Walla Walla Valley
Walla Walla University and Adventist Health have partnered with the Walla Walla Valley Blue Zones Project (BZP) as our signature project for our community. BZP is designed to help make healthy choices easier where we live, work, play, pray, and learn, and will have a significant positive impact on the health and well-being of our community. With funding from Adventist Health and leadership from the CHE, WWU is proud to have brought the Blue Zones Project to the Walla Walla Valley.
C.A.R.E. Weekends are 1–2-hour service opportunities offered every weekend during the academic year. Designed to help students connect with Christ through service, C.A.R.E. activities give students an opportunity to make friends while making a difference for our community.
The C.A.R.E. Project is a pilot volunteer program engaging university students with a diverse range of community development projects across the network of Adventist Community Services in the North Pacific Union Conference territory. The program involves leadership development, mentorship, and experiential service-learning opportunities to engage Adventist church members with community impact and development best practices.
Operated by the Walla Walla University Church. Eden’s Pantry is an on-campus food pantry designed to meet the needs of food insecure students at Walla Walla University and provide outreach to the community. The pantry has worked with College Place Public Schools to organize volunteers and gather food for hundreds of care packages benefiting the college Place community.
“Because we believe that every person is created in the image of God, our mission reaches beyond providing food to promote the value of nutrition, increase self- sufficiency, and instill hope. Furthermore, we seek to encourage an understanding of food insecurity within our community and to create a space for students and church members to volunteer and come together. In this way, Eden’s Pantry helps to ensure that food relief has a more meaningful, enduring impact.”
The CHE helped form the Blue Mountain Long-Term Recovery Group to respond to the needs of the Walla Walla Valley and surrounding counties after severe flooding in February 2020. Long-term disaster case management and rebuilding continue to be needed.
Hosted twice a year, service days are campus-wide events when classes are excused and students, faculty, and staff come together to make a difference in our community. With a wide range of service projects, everyone can find something that they are passionate about.
Service learning refers to student participation in educational activities that provide a benefit to the community while meeting learning objectives. It combines meaningful experiences, practical skill-development, and career exposure, with increased awareness of and compassion for the needs of others.