SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – Viking Days is underway this week at Augustana University. While homecoming is a time for celebration, the Augustana community is also giving back.

Students and staff are getting into the homecoming spirit today. As part of Viking Days, this group is packing meals for a day dedicated to service.

“It’s called ‘Sailing into Service,’ and so service is one of Augustana’s core values, so we like to dedicate one day throughout this homecoming week just to service and it’s a great way for our campus community to come together,” Viking Days events gold co-chair, Grace Kelly said.

The meals packed today will benefit Kids Against Hunger and then be sent to Haiti.

“It’s rice, soy, veggies, and protein, so we are packaging them in plastic containers and they’re sent to Haiti and they’re able to make meals from the packages that we sent,” Kelly said.

All day long people can sign up or stop by to help out. Macie Haggerty decided to volunteer with a group of friends.

“It feels really good to get involved, I’m an athlete here so it’s hard to do things outside of soccer sometimes so being able to leave that and leave school behind and come out and volunteer and know you’re helping someone else feels really good,” student Macie Haggerty said.

A homecoming event that’s making a difference.

“There’s lots of ways to get involved with service at Augustana and I think just having one day dedicated to it during our Viking Days homecoming week is just a really great way to get people exposed to it and encourage more opportunities throughout the year,” Kelly said.

Packing started at 9:00 am and people could stop by to help until 9:00 Tuesday night. For a full list of events during Viking Days click here.