Spirit of Service

Dickinson volunteers serve Carlisle area and beyond

by Michelle Simmons

March 23, 2010

Last fall, students immersed themselves in a Day of Service cleaning up nearby Conodoguinet Creek.

Imagine 15 screaming girls, ages 7 to 11. It’s your first day as their Girl Scout troop leader.

“They were running around on the playground, all wound up with energy,” Kim Blank ’10 said of her first day at Hope Station, a Carlisle nonprofit agency serving underprivileged youth. “I didn’t have any experience with kids. I never baby-sat; I don’t have any siblings. I remember thinking, ‘How am I going to do this?’ ”

But after three years as a troop leader, the political-science major is clear about how to serve. She runs into the girls at the local Wal-Mart and receives cards and photos from them. “They taught me a lot that I didn’t get in the classroom,” she said.

Blank is now dedicated to matching other students with community-service opportunities. As a student leader in the Office of Religious Life & Community Service, she plans and coordinates the office’s Day of Service program, which offers service opportunities throughout the academic year.

Day of Service is exactly that: Those who don’t have the time or ability to commit to regular community service can sign up for a day’s project. From cleaning up nearby Conodoguinet Creek last fall to reading Dr. Seuss to elementary-school children during Read Across America Day on March 2, the program offers a plethora of service opportunities. In general, projects are open to students, faculty and staff.

“Some of the projects begin to meet the immediate needs of community partners—from painting furniture for Carlisle CARES [homeless shelters] to shredding files for Sadler Health Center,” said Mira Hewlett, interim director of religious life and community service. “Others are community partners that we do not have a weekly program with, but they have a relationship with Dickinson and are looking for volunteers to help with special projects.”

Last October, Blank coordinated A Week of Writing (Oct. 24-29), a joint project with the Writing Center. On Oct. 27, students were invited to stop by the Biblio Café and write letters to soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan; some visited the nearby Sarah A. Todd Memorial Home on Oct. 29 and helped senior citizens write letters to family members or record oral histories. Others played writing games with Blank’s Girl Scout troop at Hope Station on Oct. 28.

“We want to do things that don’t require a specific skill set,” said Blank. “A lot of first-year students sign up. They’re still feeling out their interests to see what’s in Carlisle, and it’s a way to pull them in.”

Blank is planning the next Day of Service event to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22 and a Bargain Parlor to benefit the local food bank Project SHARE in May. Those interested in receiving notice of upcoming opportunities can contact dayofservice@dickinson.edu.