February
Volunteer Opportunities
Dear Penn Community,
Thank
you for your continued support and thanks to the 550 volunteers
who participated in the University of Pennsylvania's Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. 2004 Commemorative Symposium on Social
Change Day of Service activities. Volunteers painted and
spruced up West Philadelphia High School, worked on "Helping
Hands"
projects for local shelters and elder care programs.
Children learned about Dr. King's life by creating banners
and by having volunteers read to them. West Philadelphia
students participated in a one day mentoring program with
Penn students. Volunteers participated in Philadelphia Reads
training to put books on tape.
Following
is our monthly posting of community service opportunities.
Please contact me via e-mail, sammapp@pobox.upenn.edu or
at (215) 898-2020 to volunteer for any of the programs.
--Isabel
Mapp, Associate Director,Faculty, Staff and Alumni
Volunteer Services, Director, Penn Volunteers In Public
Service,
Center for Community Partnerships
Your
Help is Needed: The Youth Golf & Academics Program
is a non-profit organization founded by former Phillies
centerfielder Garry Maddox. Our mission is to address the
academic, socialization, and recreational needs of at-risk
youth who live in the poorest sections of Philadelphia
and Camden. Using golf as a recreational tool to teach
life skills, we provide services afterschool five days
per week all year-round at the Murphy Recreation Center
in south Philadelphia. We need your help: it's important
that we expand our team of tutors, reading room leaders,
computer instructors, and golf instructor volunteers. Committing
2.5 hours per week can change a life.
Volunteer! Adult
volunteers are needed to tutor middle school students in
the SquashSmarts program. SquashSmarts is a Philadelphia
youth enrichment program that combines the game of squash
with academic tutoring and mentoring of middle school students.
Squash serves as the hook that pulls students into the program.
Upon their first introduction to the game in 6th grade, the
students are curious, inquisitive and excited about learning
a new sport, and so willingly sign on for the extra academic
work required by all participants. Students attend practice
two afternoons per week--1 hour 15 minutes of squash followed
by 1 hour 15 minutes of tutoring--and then two hours on Saturday
mornings for squash play only. The 3-days per week schedule
continues through the school year. Each team member benefits
from one-to-one tutoring with college students and adult
volunteers as well as one-to-one mentoring with college student
athletes. This personal attention, tailored to each student's
needs over the course of a three-year-long commitment to
the program, is what makes SquashSmarts so unique.
Join
the Penn VIPS Scholarship Committee! Help plan the
12th Annual Penn VIPS Scholarship Program where we select
and honor outstanding students from Bartram, Parkway, Overbrook,
University City and West Philadelphia High Schools. Planning
is underway for the June 2004 program.
Help
Out at the VA Medical Center. Volunteer to write letters
for and read to the elderly veterans. Do you have a valid
driver's license? Your help is needed to drive a van to
transport Disabled American Veterans to and from the hospital.
March
Preview: Annual Penn VIPS Penny Drive March 1-19, Penny
Drive to benefit a local West Philadelphia nonprofit organization.
Send suggestions for a beneficiary to: Dropsite Committee
c/o Isabel Mapp, Center for Community Partnership, Suite
519, 133 S. 36th Street/3246.