Section A · Page 8
Community Service
Wednesday, March 7, 2001
Students lend helping hands
Youth Friends forms mentors
By Maggie Newcomer Kansan correspondent
Many children have trouble adapting in their first days of school and need a friend, someone older who can ease fear and confusion.
That's where Youth Friends comes in, a grant-funded program for the Lawrence Partnership for Children and Youth that recruits volunteers from the community to mentor children in Lawrence public schools.
"Youth Friends was started in Kansas City in 1985 as a non-profit state and federal-funded organization," said Erin Enneking, program coordinator and Lawrence graduate student. "Now, Youth Friends is available in over 80 school districts in the Kansas City area. It's also been piloted in Michigan this year."
The Lawrence branch of Youth Friends was established in 1998 and, in nearly three years, has acquired 120 volunteers, 60 percent of them University students. The program is offered in 25 of the 26 Lawrence public schools.
"I heard about Youth Friends at summer orientation," said Samantha Mangino, Manhattan freshman. "I filled out a questionnaire and they sent me an application before school even started, and I've been volunteering since November."
Children in kindergarten through 12th grade can become involved with the program. In most cases, the school's counselor serves as a liaison between the student and the Youth Friends office to match students with volunteers. This helps the students become more attached to their mentor.
stomach aches as often. They really look forward to their meetings with the volunteers."
The coordinators at Youth Friends try to match children with volunteers who share their interests and skills.
"If there is a child struggling in math and we have a KU student majoring in math who wants to volunteer, we'll match them up." Anderson said.
The minimum time requirement for volunteering is one hour a week for eight weeks. The volunteers and their youth friends must meet on school grounds.
"When I first started going it was a little awkward," Mangino said. "After a while, though, they warm up to you. I would go during lunch, and we would read in the library or play on the computers. This semester I helped my youth friend with her homework more. We also do things like make Christmas cards or Valentine's Day cards."
Friends, volunteers must complete an application, submit three references, have an interview with the Youth Friends staff and complete a 90-minute training session. A background check is also conducted.
To get involved with Youth
"I would encourage people to find out what it's all about," Mangino said. "I think a lot of people associate community service with doing dirty work. Youth Friends is really fun, and it can be relaxing."
During orientations and at the beginning of each semester, Youth Friends advertises and conducts informational meetings, which Enneking said were successful in recruiting volunteers.
"Right now we're trying to make sure it keeps going," said Melvin Herrington, Youth Friends executive director. "We have a partnership with USD 497, so that helps out with funding. Once we're widely known as a successful mentoring program for kids, funding will be secure."
- Edited by Melinda Weaver
Careers hard to pinpoint for CLAS students
Sociology Club's fair to answer questions
By Julie Carter Special to the Kansan
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences students will have an opportunity to solicit help from employers at the Sociology Club's career fair Tuesday, March 13.
Employers from Lawrence and the Kansas City area will be there to provide help with job placement at 7 p.m. at the Walnut Room in the Kansas
Union. The fair's focus will be placed on careers involving social welfare and sociology.
"There is not a lot of opportunity to figure out exactly what to do since they are such broad-based fields," said Alicia Reed, sociology club president and Great Bend senior. "I went to the Business School career fair, and it wasn't much help for liberal arts students."
Instead of holding a canned-food drive, like in previous years, the club decided a career fair would be something the students could benefit from.
Sociology department, Career Services, Graduate Services and Sprint are among some of the organizations that will attend.
Representatives from the
Students often have questions about what activities are helpful in getting the right job, how to get interviews and what employers want.
"We are hoping for information on internships, not just jobs," Reed said.
Shirley Hill, associate professor of sociology and graduate director, will be on hand to discuss graduate school. Issues on the benefits of attending gradu
ate school, how to apply and the various degrees offered will be addressed.
Career Services has helped in the past by placing the names of interested students on a listserv for employers to review and contact.
"Career placement has come in the past and done wonderfully with the students," said Mehrangiz Najafizadeh, associate professor of sociology and undergraduate director. "The whole notion of a career fair is nice because a lot of times students don't have ideas."
— Edited by Melinda Weaver
Center is popular hangout for city's underprivileged
By Eve Lamborn
Kansan correspondent
It's exactly 8:30 a.m. when a volunteer opens the door, letting in a rush of bright sunlight and frosty morning air. Despite the early hour, a small group of people have been waiting outside. They file into the Community Drop-In Center to sign in, and at least a dozen more join them within the next 10 minutes.
The Center, 214 W. 10th St., offers a relaxed atmosphere for low-income and homeless people. The center provides a multitude of services: laundry and breakfast, quiet rooms for reading and a place to hang out with friends.
"We do a little bit of everything," said Tami Clark, the center's only full-time staff member. "We try to help however we can."
The small foyer quickly fills with their voices as friends greet each other and chat.
One woman heads straight to the continental breakfast in the back room. Several others take advantage of the free laundry and shower facilities while they wait for boiled eggs — 4 dozen each day — to finish cooking.
Another man stops to say 'hi' before slipping into a quiet room for a nap. Clark promises a man named Albert she will save him a couple of boiled eggs while he also takes a nap. Some of the people who come in have just finished night shifts.
Back up front, a man named Steve jokes with a volunteer as he checks apartment listings in the newspaper.
"You meet great, really interesting people, from guests to volunteers," Clark said.
Clark said she expected to spend her morning helping a man obtain a picture ID so he could cash his paychecks. Recently, she spent her day
calling local churches to get money for a man who needed a bus ticket
Local social-service providers, such as the Douglas County AIDS Project and Women's Transitional Care Services, also come to the center weekly to provide on-site service.
Although the Drop-In Center has existed since 1995, it has only occupied its current building since September. The center used to operate out of existing institutions, which were usually church basements.
And since the center opened downtown, the number of people who visit and the amount of support it receives have increased.
"We've had a really good support system develop, just because of the location." Clark said.
She also said 30 to 40 people stopped by each day, attributing the increased traffic to the new location. Primary funding for the center comes from the City of Lawrence through the Community Development Block Grant. The grant covers the rent for the building and Clark's salary, but donations from the community cover the rest of the center's daily needs. For example, local grocery stores donate bread, fruit and eggs, and a church donated the washer and dryer.
About 15 volunteers also keep the center running, doing everything from cleaning and picking up food to sitting with anyone who wants to socialize.
Katy Elsenmenger, Fairmont,
Minn., junior, has been volunteering
at the center since last October, and
said her experience there had been
very interesting and rewarding.
"You get to know the homeless people and put names and faces to them and realize that they are real people," she said.
— Edited by Leita Schultes
Registered Student Organizations
Several workstations will be available in the Student Organizations and Leadership Development Center for the 2001-2002 year. Applications are at SUA, O&L,and in 133 Strong Hall. Applications are due by noon on Friday, March 16, 2001
Call Susan Elkins, O&L Center, 864-4861 with questions
Pregnant?
Birthright can help
1-800-550 4900
FREE AND CONFIDENTIAL PREGNANCY TESTS AND REFERRALS
Alternative Weekend Breaks
Creating life-long links between students and service
There's still time to get involved. Four weekend breaks left this semester.
Community Gardenina
Topeka Community
Garden Project
April 27-28
Applications due:
April 18 at 5 p.m.
Working at a Children's Clothing Exchange Spring Hill Multi-Service Center
Restoration Work at a Local Lake Hillsdale State Park
Home Reconstruction Mennonite Housing Rehabilitation Services Wichita,KS April 20-21 Applications due: April 13 at 5 p.m.
For more information contact Kendra Seaman or Jessi Mester at:
Alternative Breaks 410 Kansas Union Box 63
864-4317 aweb@ukans.edu
www.ukans.edu/~albreaks
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