Stanford hosted the first day of its second biennial Community Partnership Program on Thursday, a two-day event that will take more than 400 Stanford faculty, staff, students and alumni from inside the Stanford bubble to reach out to the surrounding communities.

“The goal is to engage the Stanford community with local organizations in the hope that they will form a longstanding partnership and appreciation of the value of volunteerism,” said Anna Wilson, event coordinator of the Community Partnership Program.

After debuting in April 2006 as a one-day event held in alternating years with Community Day — a free University open house designed to bring Stanford’s neighbors on campus — the Office of Public Affairs decided to expand this year’s program from one to two days to accommodate the large turnout of volunteers and organizations. With over 400 volunteers, this year’s turnout was double that of 2006.

“The biggest difference is that this program involves more people, so it is becoming a true community partnership program,” Wilson said. “We are working more with the community by looking at what they need and how we can help. We have also expanded the variety of volunteer opportunities including a wider range of interests, from new environmental projects to assistance projects for the elderly and homeless in our community.”

The surge in participation can be attributed to the efforts of Frosh Council and its idea to collaborate with Stanford Events to organize and a freshman day of service called the O-Leven Day of Activism. Over 140 freshmen signed up to volunteer as part of the program, which represents a marked increase over the last time the program ran in 2006, when only 10 students participated.

A total of 40 percent of the volunteers this year are students.

“When the possibility to pair with Community Partnership Day arose, we jumped at the chance,” said Zachary Warma ‘11, a member of Frosh Council who spearheaded the creation of a class-wide community service project. “This is the very first time in recorded memory that the freshman class has attempted such an ambitious project.”

Koren Bakkegard, director of New Student Programs, said that she was impressed by the energy and commitment of the Frosh Council organizers and hopes that an event centered on a day of service will become an annual fixture for Frosh Council for the Class of 2012 and beyond.

“The opportunity to study and work at Stanford is a privilege, and we have an obligation to acknowledge that,” Bakkegard said. “Participation in Community Partnership Day is one way to begin to recognize the responsibility we have to others.

“Freshman participation is especially important since they are at the beginning of their relationship to Stanford and the communities that surround Stanford,” Bakkegard added. “I believe it’s quite unusual, and commendable, for the Class of 2011 to be participating in Community Partnership Day as a class and not simply as individuals.”

Participants will be volunteering with a broad array of organizations such as Abilities United, the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula and Save the Bay to work on issues ranging from health care and homelessness to the environment.

Linda Chin of Abilities United, a non-profit serving Bay Area residents who have developmental and other disabilities, said that having Stanford volunteers not only helps the organization finish projects that reach beyond its budget but also helps to boost the morale of both staff and clients.

“It’s really wonderful to have the Stanford volunteers come,” Chin said. “It is heartwarming to know that people from the community will give up a day to make a difference to an organization like ours.

“We have been a Palo Alto organization for 45 years and I think having Stanford volunteers not only boosts the morale of our staff but enriches the lives of our clients,” Chin added. “It really means a lot knowing that there are people in the community who care.”

Though the two-day volunteer efforts have been beneficial to community organizations, volunteers believe that this program has the potential to extend beyond its two-day duration and encourage volunteers to continue their service.

Peter Davis ‘11, who was the project leader for an event at St. Anthony’s Padua Dining Room on Thursday, said that he and the other Stanford volunteers received an amazing response from all of the volunteers there and are motivated to continue volunteering over the next few months.

“Many of the volunteers at the event felt so inspired and excited by the work they did that many are considering volunteering regularly,” Davis said. “St. Anthony’s needs all the help they can receive, and each of us was touched by what we saw and our experience. I’m sure that many of us will go back — I know I will — and help in any way we can.”

Warma said that this event was important not only for the community but for Stanford students because it enabled them to expand their horizons beyond the Stanford bubble.

“I personally feel blessed that I get a chance to spend four years of my life on this incredibly gorgeous campus,” Warma said. “As I see it, we dishonor both ourselves and this institution if we are not working to help others who perhaps have not been so fortunate as us.”