UA Students ‘Inspire by Example’ During National Volunteer Week

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama Community Service Center will celebrate National Volunteer Week April 23-30 with events for UA students and the West Alabama community.

With the 2006 theme “Inspire By Example,” National Volunteer Week is sponsored by the Points of Light Foundation and Volunteer Center National Network.

National Volunteer Week began in 1974 when President Richard Nixon signed an executive order establishing an annual celebration of volunteering. Every president since has signed a proclamation promoting the week.

At UA, National Volunteer Week is sponsored by the Community Service Center, Housing and Residential Communities, Bama Dining, Book Arts and University Libraries, the Counseling Center and the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility.

Highlights of UA National Volunteer Week include:

Monday, April 24 – Events will begin in Ferguson Center Plaza from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. when Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox will issue a proclamation for National Volunteer Week followed by a crawfish boil fund-raiser for Lusher Charter School, an elementary school in New Orleans that sustained severe damage from Hurricane Katrina.

There will be an opportunity to make hygiene bags for Tuscaloosa’s Temporary Emergency Services and public journals for participants to write about their personal volunteer experiences.

Students will also have the opportunity to weather proof area homes with the Hunger and Homelessness Program, sponsored by Community Services of West Alabama from 1-4 p.m.

Tuesday, April 25 – An advocacy and issues forum on Arts Education in Public Schools will take place in 313 Ferguson Center from noon-1 p.m. with panelists Dr. Scott Bridges of the UA School of Music, Sandy Wolfe, education director of the Tuscaloosa Arts Council, and Diana Greene, arts education director for the Alabama State Council on the Arts. Lunch will be served and there will be a drawing for an iPod Nano.

Art 4 All, a volunteer organization designed to provide an educational art experience for children who otherwise would not have the opportunity, will travel to Crescent East Housing and do art projects with the children from 4-5 p.m.

Wednesday, April 26 – A volunteer issues and advocacy forum on Adequate Health Care in Rural and Low-Income Rural Communities will take place in 313 Ferguson from noon-1 p.m. with panelists Dr. John Brandon of the UA Rural Medical Scholars Program, Dr. Stephen Black of UA’s Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility, Elizabeth Hendrix of the UA chapter of Alabama Arise, and Edwina Taylor of Cahaba Valley Health Care. Lunch will be served and there will be a drawing for an iPod Nano.

Tuscaloosa’s One Place will also have a Volunteer Reception from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Ferguson Center Heritage Room.

Thursday, April 27 – The Counseling Center will have a Destress Fest on the Quad from 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Several service activities are planned throughout the day, including an event with T-town Paws, art therapy with colors and finger painting, kite building to be donated to school children, making planters for the elderly, and a canned food drive for the West Alabama Food Bank. Students who donate canned goods for the food drive can qualify to win a 2GB iPod Nano.

After School Art 4 All will take place on the Quad from 3:30-4:30 p.m. with children from Holt Elementary After School Program and Crescent East Housing Authority. Volunteers will be doing art projects and playing games with the children.

The Health Services Program will volunteer at the Good Samaritan Clinic from 2:15- 3:45 p.m.

The Hunger and Homelessness Program will serve dinner at the Salvation Army from 5-7 p.m.

A campus highlight of National Volunteer Week is the Profiles in Service Awards Banquet, held from 6-7:30 p.m. in the Ferguson Center Heritage Room. Winners were selected for their commitment and accomplishments in the areas of community service. Dr. Samory Pruitt, UA vice president for community affairs, will give the keynote address.

Friday, April 28 – Students will have the opportunity to get their hands dirty with the Habitat for Humanity student work day from noon-5 p.m.

Sunday, April 30 – Tuscaloosa One Place’s Braziertos/Open Arms Hispanic Health Fair will be held at the Northport Civic Center from noon-6 p.m.

The UA Community Service Center coordinates student volunteers and places them into needed areas in the community based on the volunteer’s specific interest. The center also sponsors and organizes several yearly special projects and on-campus service events including Ripple Effect, Beat Auburn Beat Hunger, Hunger and Homelessness Week, Alternative Spring Break, National Volunteer Week, Give N Go, Quarters on the Quad and the Profiles in Service Volunteer Awards.

For more information contact Valerie Phillips or Megann Bates in the CSC at 205/348-2865, www.volunteer.ua.edu.