The Walk for Kidney Health, the Norman Bird Sanctuary's Harvest Fair, ongoing care of animals at the Potter League, and a Starkids Fun Day highlight some of the events in a busy fall term in community service. Ms. Lizzie Benestad spearheaded the school's participation on September 29 in the national walk to support the National Kidney Foundation. Gathering a group of eleven dedicated student volunteers on a rainy Sunday, the walkers joined the
Pawtucket,
Rhode Island, walk in an effort that raised over $30,000. The following weekend, ten more volunteers journeyed closer to home, to the Norman Bird Sanctuary, to contribute a Sunday afternoon at the 34th Annual Harvest Fair - taking tickets, helping with children's games and crafts, and enjoying a variety of other tasks. Another Sunday afternoon finds another service event, as the Abbey hosts a group of Starkids on Sunday, October 19, for a Halloween Fun Day of pizza, visiting the horses, and painting pumpkins.
For more information on programs and options in volunteering,
please see the CommServ intranet page
or contact Dr. Blake Billings, director of Christian Community Service: 401/643-1260; communityservice@portsmouthabbey.org.
The service internship program has had a full complement of twenty-nine volunteers helping this fall at local agencies, including Potter League, Norman Bird Sanctuary, Green Animals topiary garden, the Boys and Girls Club of Newport, Child and Family Services, Saint Philomena School, and Forest Farm Assisted Living, as well as here at various offices of the Abbey. Student interns have also flocked to the Potter League animal shelter this term, helping to socialize animals, to get them better prepared for a new home. A large group has also assisted at the Norman Bird Sanctuary, working in care of the grounds as well as in the Sanctuary's environmental education programs.
Added to these commitments has been an array of diverse volunteer work helping to fulfill the school's service requirement. In addition to the tried-and-true placements in after-school work at All Saint's Academy, new types of projects have included Tara Tischio '11 in her participation in the Avon Walk for Cancer, Chris Waterman '11 with his plan to train boy scouts, Nikki Beede '11 in her participation in the Alzheimer's "Memory Walk," or the crew walking for kidney health, and still more volunteers helping with the spring Appalachia Trip. These efforts have helped widen the range of involvement and augment the energy and enthusiasm of Abbey volunteers completing the school's requirement in service.
In addition, students, faculty and staff are now more fully aware of this work in public service, through several new efforts to get the word out. Dr. Blake Billings '77, director of the service programs, points to the weekly "e-bulletin" from the community service office, which has helped to keep the Abbey community apprised of news and events. "We also have established new links to the service Web pages from the school's Web site," he notes, "And with student interest in learning about the options in the new service requirement, we've really seen increased traffic on the community service pages, probably as much as tenfold."
Austin Lannon '10 has been working as a community service "communications intern," writing several articles on partner agencies and the Abbey's student involvement there. All of these ventures in communications have been designed to promote awareness and participation in community service activities and, given the level of volunteer activity witnessed this term, they would seem to have proven fruitful. "It's really about developing this aspect of school life, and seeing it as very much in line with the mission of the school," says Dr. Billings. And with the Clothe-A-Child initiative and the
Appalachia trip both on the horizon, he adds, efforts to reach out to the community seem to have the positive momentum to continue to grow throughout the winter term.
