Press Release
Volunteer opportunities
abound on campus
AMY KAY
NICKERSON
Staff Writer
Volunteering one's time
as a college student can be
rewardmg due to the look
on a child's ^e that
screams 'thank you’ to a
simple smile from a senior
citizen who is confined to a
wheelchair. Meredith’s
campus ministry has an
entire office dedicated to
helping college students
find volunteer opportuni
ties.
Forty Meredith volun
teers participated in a com
memorative "Volunteer
Day" on Saturday, August
23. Groups collaborated at
six different sites including
the Latta House, Hope
Builders and Interfaith
Food Shuttle. The
Philaretian Society tie-dyed
T-shirts for less fortunate
children m the Raleigh
area. Af^er volunteering, all
groups met back at Belk
Dining Hall for a pizza
lunch. Twenty-five reflec
tion leaders-in-training vol
unteered at the Latta hous
as well. In group reflection
sessions followed lunch.
The volunteer services
fair on Wednesday, August
27 was yet another oppor
tunity to get informed and
involved. Thirty-one
groups participated in the
fair that was moved inside
Belk Dining Hall due to the
heat. MeredithREADs was
just one of the oi;ganiza-
tions that distributed infor
mation and signed up vol
unteers to assist them in
their program needs.
MeredithREADs is in its
third year at Meredith. The
program fimctions under
Motheread, a nationwide
non-profit literacy develop
ment organization head
quartered in Raleigh,
whose mission is "working
through the United States
to integrate literature-based
ciuriculum and training
into literacy, early child
hood education, and family
support programs." Besides
serving as an advocate for
child literacy, the group
sponsors tutors through the
government's work-study
program. These tutors work
2-10 hours weekly, in
SmartStart affiliated pre
schools. Our local program,
which started in 2000 with
nine students, has grown to
include over 30 students.
Another feature of the
program is the volunteer
portion. Added in 2001,
volunteers
include students, faculty
and staff. Each volunteer
works with a student once a
week for the duration of the
school year. Volxmteers can
sign up to work at four dif
ferent school sites:
Washington, Fred A. Olds,
Joyner, and Powell. Dr.
Jean Jackson, Vice-
President for Student
Development, has partici
pated in the program for
the past two years.
"Volimteering with
MeredithREADs is a joy,"
Jackson said. "By spending
time reading with a child, a
MeredithREADs tutor
helps a child, a family, and
our community. We build
bridges with commxmity
schools and give children
the support and encourage
ment they may need to
become more skillful read
ers. The better readers they
become, the more options
they will have in continu
ing their education and
choosing careers."
The fmal feature of
MeredithREADs is Service
Learning. By enrolling in a
service learning class
(marked SL in the cata
logue), like CD-340, Young
Children's Learning
Environment, students get
the opportunity to serve off
campus for credit. Students
enrolled in SL classes vol
unteer at Lacy Elementary.
Students interested in
flnding out more about
MeredithREADs may con
tact Lynn Wheatley,
Volunteer Services
Coordinator, at wheat-
leyl@meredith.edu. Those
who don't have transporta
tion, can be placed with
another volunteer that has a
car.
Training sessions for
MeredithREADs volun
teers are Wednesday, Sept.
10 from 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. in
Dogwood A/B for Faculty
and Staff, and Thursday,
Sept. 1, from 5:30 p.m. -
7:30 p.m. in Dogwood A/B
for students. Please register
online at
www.meredith.edu/stu-
dents/voiunteer/mered-
ithreads.htm.
Nobel Prize for
Peace recipient,
Elle WIesel will
speak on campus
next week. The
speech Is part of
Meredith’s convoca
tion series and the
Summer Reading
Program.
MELYSSA ALLEN
Media Relations
Meredith College OfTice
of Marketing &
Communications
Dr. Elie Wiesel, the 1986
Nobel Prize for Peace
recipient, will speak on
Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 7
p.m. in Meredith College’s
Mclver Amphitheater.
In a speech titled
"Against Indifference: The
Urgency of Hope," Wiesel
will speak on his experi
ences living through the
Holocaust and his life after
the Holocaust. This Lillian
Parker Wallace Lecture is
free and open to the public.
Wiesel was 15 years old
when the Nazis deported
him and his family to
Auschwitz. "Night,’' a fac
tual novel that illustrates
the experiences Wiesel and
his family faced during the
Holocaust, was published
in 1960. In 1978, President
Jimmy Carter appointed
Wiesel chairman of the
President's Commission on
the Holocaust. Wiesel
received the Nobel Prize
for Peace in 1986, after
which he and wife, Marion,
founded the Elie Wiesel
Foundation for Humanity.
This summer, incom
ing Meredith freshman read
"Night" as'the selection for
the College's summer read
ing program.
Wiesel's visit is spon
sored by Meredith College,
The Wallace Lecture Fund,
the Raleigh-Caiy Jewish
Federation and the North
Carolina Council on the
Holocaust.
In conjimction with Elie
Wiesel's visit, Meredith
Performs Theatre will pres
ent "And Then They Came
for Me: Remembering the
World of Anne Frank" from
Sept.18-20 at 8‘p.m. and
Sept. 20-21 at 2 p.m. m
Jones Auditorium. This
moving multimedia play
weaves videotaped inter
views with Holocaust sur
vivors Ed Silverberg and
Eva Schloss with live
actors recreating scenes
from their lives during
World War II. To reserve
tickets to the play, call the
Meredith College Box
Office at 919-760-2840.
On the inside:
Christy’s
Sports
Corner
News
Page 8
Page 4