Students don’t need to cross the country to serve the community this weekend.

About 100 students are expected to volunteer at more than seven sites in Evanston and Chicago Saturday for Community Action Day. The event is open to the entire campus and does not require preregistration.

Opportunities include taking Special Olympics athletes to Lincoln Park Zoo, working with at-risk minority children at the Associate Health Project, and serving the homeless at Residents of Effective Shelter, a shelter and soup kitchen.

Now in its third year, the volunteer event sparked by Alternative Spring Break now has four additional sponsors: Dance Marathon, Oasis, Special Olympics and Suitcase Party.

Bringing together several service groups helps organizers attract volunteers and offer more sites, said Katie Stearns, ASB co-director. The groups also want students to realize that service continues beyond a trip or an event.

“Part of ASB isn’t only to organize trips but to encourage lifelong action,” said Stearns, a Speech senior. “The issues dealt with during Spring Break are not exclusive to those communities but are common across the country. Especially here.”

Spending more time in the community helps strengthen the bond between volunteers and the people they serve, organizers said.

“We’re moving from looking at Special Olympics as an organization that deals mainly with sports to a more social realm offering opportunities to forge a community amongst us,” said Chris Rhee, executive co-chairman of Special Olympics.

At 10 a.m. on Saturday, volunteers will have breakfast at Fisk Hall while hearing a brief talk on service by Susan Johnston, assistant director of campus activities and student committees. Groups will then take buses to their sites and return by about 3 p.m.

Students might return to campus knowing more about themselves and their city, some students said.

“I feel like (community service) is in my blood,” Stearns said. “I like to get my hands dirty in a community, to get to know the people there and the issues that they face. The only way to understand something is to get involved.”