Volunteers in one dorm give new meeaning to 'community'

Cleaning local parks, painting school playgrounds and playing bingo with the elderly, students from Community House embraced volunteerism on Saturday with "Into the Streets," a day of community service projects throughout Philadelphia. "Into the Streets," organized by the staff of Community House, provided 100 residents with the opportunity to choose among 16 different sites throughout the community to perform activities ranging from packaging food at a homeless shelter to beautifying a residence for abused and homeless women. In past years, there has been a day at Penn for all freshman to go out into the community and volunteer. However, since the Jewish High Holy Days fell early in the semester, creating scheduling problems, the day was no longer incorporated into freshman orientation. So, over the summer, members of the Community House staff decided to bring community service to a more local level -- like the residence halls -- and send out a survey to all incoming freshmen in the house. The staff received a positive response as over 200 students replied that they had an interest in volunteerism. Education graduate student Annette Campbell, a graduate associate in Community, and Joseph Sun, the house dean, planned the day. "We were very impressed by the feedback we got over the summer," Campbell said."We learned that we had residents in Community who were completely dedicated to the concept of community service. We knew we needed to plan this day." Collaborating with Civic House and the Center for Community Partnerships, Campbell contacted representatives from environmental organizations, food banks, schools and homeless shelters, developing a list of 16 sites from which the house's residents could choose. At 8 a.m. on Saturday morning, over 100 students left from the Quadrangle and went with team leaders out to the different sights. The site that drew the most volunteers was Lea Elementary School at 47th and Locust streets, where students and teachers from the school joined Penn students in painting interior and exterior spaces in the school building. That project actually may establish a long-term commitment, as Community House plans to become a close partner with Lea and is hoping to collaborate with them in the school's upcoming multicultural fair. The next largest group of students went to Cobb's Creek Park, working with the Park Association to clean up and rebuild trails. Other sites included working at the Ronald McDonald House to plan activities for the families and siblings of the patients, barbequing for residents at the Ralston House nursing home and gardening at Centro Nueva Creacion, a church-based organization in North Philadelphia. The volunteers from Communty House felt that the day was an important addition to their education at Penn. "The whole experience was beneficial and gratifying," College freshman Erin Kennedy said. "It was important for us to go out into the community, because it gave us a sense of appreciation for what we had." "'Into the Streets' enabled students to find their own personal interest and access opportunities in the community," Campbell said. "We are hoping that the volunteers will build a long-term relationship with one of the sights so that when they leave Penn, they will not sever their relationship with that form of volunteerism." Campbell stressed that "Into the Streets" was not just a day for Penn students to help the less fortunate residents of Philadelphia. "[The event] should be an interactive experience in which Penn students benefit from the culture and wisdom of the residents of Philadelphia," he added.