On Sunday afternoon, about 100 students from diverse religious backgrounds came together for the 5th Annual Day of Service. Teams of students went out to separate service sites in Champaign and Urbana to work together and concluded with a dinner and social discussion about religious tolerance.

“We use these events as a platform for dialogue and as a way to establish a common ground,” said Greg Damhorst, co-president of the Interfaith in Action student group. Damhorst, a sophomore in LAS who identifies himself as an Evangelical Covenant Christian, plans events along with a team of four other students who make up the group’s Steering Committee.

Interfaith in Action Co-President Benazir Chhotani, who is of Muslim faith, said the volunteers came from the Urbana mosque, the Religious Workers Association, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, St. John’s Catholic Newman Center and the Hindu Students Council.

In addition, present at the event were Jain students, Jewish students and “even a couple atheists,” Chhotani said.

At 1 p.m., the group split up into teams of about 15 for the day, each led by a Steering Committee member, and departed to its respective sites scattered across the community.

“My group went to the Helia nursing home,” Chhotani said. “We used rakes and shovels to clean the yard area outside and then came in and visited with the seniors there.”

At 5 p.m., the groups all met for dinner and discussed how commonalities between world religions could help bring people together.

“We got done early, but the majority of the people wanted to stay,” Chhotani said, adding that she was happy the discussion kept the participants around longer.

The event has grown steadily in recent years, and this year it included local high school students as participants for the first time.

“They came to us because their communities weren’t doing enough,” said Palita Sriratana, a junior in LAS of Buddhist religion.

Interfaith in Action is an offshoot of a larger nonprofit youth organization called Interfaith Youth Core, which was founded in 1998 by University alumnus Eboo Patel. Today, the youth core is present on 50 American campuses and is involved in tutoring, caring for refugees and other service projects.

In that tradition, the Interfaith in Action Steering Committee hopes to expand further in future semesters and plan more activities promoting tolerance of different religions. The group can be located online through the Office of the Dean’s Web site.