Wake Forest freshmen lend a hand at agencies
BY COURTNEY GAILLARD
THECWtONK I \
Before buying books. regis
tering for classes or learning
their way around campus, a
group of about 40 incoming
freshmen at Wake Forest Univer
sity decided to begin their col
lege experience by volunteering
in the community. These stu
dents took part in a two-day vol
c> unteer pre-orientation program
called S.P.A.R.C. (Students Pro
moting Responsibility and
Action to the Community).
Designed by the Office of
Volunteer Serv ices at WFU. the
program intends to give students
a close look at the important role
community service plays in the
life of WFU. Students spent
Monday and Tuesday of this
week at AIDS Care Service, the
Food Bank. Samaritan Min
istries and the Bethlehem Com
munity Center, cooking meals,
mentoring young children and
landscaping.
Cathie Dorgan. soup kitchen
manager for Samaritan Min
istries. said (hal the university
has been collaborating with them
for several years by providing
students as volunteers.
"(Students) are more than
willing to do anything." said
Dorgan. who said the students
performed tasks such as cutting
up fruit and setting tables for the
lunch crowd.
Anna Dawson is among the
freshmen volunteers yvho signed
up for the S P A R C, program
after hav ing been an active vol
unteer in high school. Dawson,
w ho is from Columbia. S.C.. saw
this as a perfect opportunity to
learn about her new home. Win
ston-Salem.
"It was a great opportunity to
be able to meet lots of other stu
dents not know ing anyone, espe
cially from my area, going to
Wake Forest." said Dawson,
who hopes to volunteer with
.children in the community once
classes begin. "You get to help
the people in the community:
you get to become very familiar
with everyone, not just the stu
denls but the people who live
Phoio by C ourlncy li.ull.ml
Freshman Anna Dawson helped serve food to the homeless at Samaritan Ministries.
here." older retired people, who give of said. Most days an additional
Many of the regular volun- their time on a weekly basis for four to five volunteers could be
teers at Samaritan Ministries are four hours at a time, porgan of great help to the staff at
Samaritan Ministries.
Freshman Lowell Tillatt is a
native of Winston-Salem and he
too was involved in a number of
volunteer and outreach programs
while attending Mount Tabor
High School.
'it makes me feel good and I
can help other people," said
Tillatt, who volunteered at
Samaritan Ministries before
entering WFU. "I like doing this. 6
It's fun. Anywhere where 1 can
be of service I will try to do as
much as I can."
Dorgan encourages ^his
bunch of new students to contin
ue volunteering when their class
schedules will permit.
Soup kitchen team is really
unique. They really get to be
friends. It's like a family," Dor
gan said.
Samaritan Ministries is hold
ing a recruitment meeting at its
facility on Patterson Avenue for
interested volunteers.
If you are interested in volun
teering at Samaritan Ministries,
call 74S-m2.
Ansa
from page AI
Nexl week. Ansa w ill he on
the same page as Forsyth Coun
ty readers. Ansa, who has
penned five novels, including
her latest work "You Know
Better." will take part in the
community reading of Harper
Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird."
"The whole city reading one
book is a great idea." she said.
'Folks are looking to books for
direction and answers."
She said she agreed to take
part in the Forsyth County
Library's "On the Same Page"
project because she's a
"library girl."
"Reading expands your
world." she said. Ansa recalled
the days when she went to a
segregated library in Macon.
She said the black library didn't
have all the books the white
library had. but when the librar
ians saw that she was an avid
reader, they got her the books
she wanted.
Ansa said "To Kill a Mock
ingbird." the story of a young
Southern girl coming of age.
resonated with her when she
read it. "Most books by first
time authors are coming-of-age
stories." she said. "Harper Lee
got it ail in the book, coming of
age. racism, injustice - the
wonderful stuff of childhood
and discovery and awakening."
The Forsyth County Library
hopes others in the county feel
the same way about the book.
The "On the game Page" proj
ect strives to get as many coun
ty residents as possible to read
the classic. There will be sev
eral group discussions as well
as many other reading-related
activities from Aug. 28 through
Oct. 22.
Ansa will be in Winston
Salem during the three-day
4P
kickoff festival on Tuesday,
Aug. 27. She is scheduled to
make appearances at Special
Occasions, for a book signing at
noon, and the Leinbach Gallery'
(off of Reynolda Road, past Old
Town Elementary School) for
an author reading at 7 p.m.
Her four books - "Baby of
the Family." "Ugly Ways."
"The Hand I Fan With" and
"You Know Better." are all
family stories, she said.
"I bring stories of Southern
blacks and women to the fore
front in a fully dimensional
way." she said.
Ansa says her inspiration
came from the people in her
family whose stories shaped her
as she grew up. But there was
one hook that spoke to her and
her lifestyle. "Their Eyes Were
Watching God." by Zura Nfeale
Hurston.
"I read it and I was just
stunned." she said. She wrote
about bean pickers and maids.
These are the people I grew up
around. I thought their lives
were fascinating."
Ansa said that "Before
Their Eyes," she didn't see her
self in the pages of the books
she read.
Another influence for
Ansa's work is nature itself.
She is an avid bird watcher and
a gardener. "We are all connect
ed on this earth; we all call this
place home," she said.
In her work, she ties nature,
spirituality and the human con
dition together to tell her sto
ries. "Baby of the Family," her
first book, was chosen by the
Georgia Center for the Book as
one of the Top 25 Books Every
Georgian Should Read. The
book also was awarded The
American Library Association
Best Book for Young Adults in
1990 and won the 1989 Georgia
Authors Series Award.
Medals
from page A3
shoot the kids, and I suddenly
realized that the Vietnam syn
drome that we were supposed to
receive within the first 10 years -
they said if you don't receive any
problems, you won't have any.
First 10 years went by - hey. I
only had one dream, maybe
something else; I'm fine. .
"We had night operations (in
Operation Starlight in the Viet
nam War). They are...the scariest.
When you're pinned down in
your foxhole and it's night and
incoming is coming, the pope
himself would be afraid. You're
just pinned down; you can't go
anywhere and you hear it coming
and you think it's coming on you
this time, and it's the most fright
ful feeling. I'm into sensations,
but that got to me,"
Contrary to former thinking,
now doctors point out that people
may show symptoms of what
used to be called Vietnam syn
drome more than 10 years after "
their military service in the Viet
nam War. Manns said. "And they
changed the word (from Vietnam
syndrome) to post-traumatic
stress disorder, but you get higher
pereentage in your disability; it's
more serious.
"I wanted to pick up my gun
in the classroom, and I said when
this girl turns this comer. I'm
going to .shoot her. I had already,
in my imagination, killed a kid. I
get there early, and I know who's
coming. Oh. this kid is coming
hack. I knew I was going to stran
gle him. lay him dead. I sort of
waited by the door, like this, and
waited for the kid to come in.
Boyi I was really out of it that
day. So the principal came in. The
kids were afraid of me. Arid then
I realized -1 reached for my coat
and my hat and I said. Sir. I can't
take this." I just left. I went
straight to Forsyth Memorial
Hospital Emergency."
Manns said he never harmed
any students when he relived his
Vietnam horrors in the class
room. "This was going on in my
mind, hut I did find myself reach
ing for an imaginary rifle. Ohhhh.
now I know: I had to leave. I real
ly felt the fear. I w as in danger for
myself and others. I certainly
was. I'm much better now."
Manns, who looks as if he
could stilLfit into his military uni
form. proudly says he is 64 years
old. "I'll be 65 December 26. I'm
retired from everything. Social
Security coming in. Sitting on
Easy Street. I bought my dream
home. I don't know what else
there is to do."
When asked how he feels
about getting the 11 service com
mendations Friday. Manns said.
"Overwhelmed, overwhelmed.
The congressman and his assis
tants really did a fabulous job in
obtaining these medals and
everything else that I've asked
for. They have really gotten on
Congress, and they have received
all my medals for me. I don't
know what I would have done
without them."
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