DAVID HARDEN/Arizona Daily Wildcat Freshmen Melanie Proulx, Erin Dougherty, and Braulio Rodriguez, stop to make a bookmark for an elementary student, in support of Project Volunteer's fall service week, yesterday on the Mall.

Siddharth Panwar joined Project Volunteer last year to get the required service hours the UA mandated for scholarship recipients.

Yesterday, Panwar, who is now on the organization's executive board, spent his early afternoon on the UA Mall, trying to get other students to realize they can make a difference, too.

As part of Fall Service Week, Panwar and his fellow Project Volunteer members were

encouraging UA students to make bookmarks for disadvantaged fifth graders.

The activity was organized by Kid Cats, a branch of Project Volunteer that pairs UA students with students from South Tucson elementary schools.

Through different service-oriented activities, Project Volunteer hopes to gain new members and spread the word about volunteerism.

For the remainder of the week, members of different committees will be asking students to volunteer a few moments of their time for a good cause.

Today, committee members will have frames for students to decorate that will be given to elderly patients at nursing homes.

Tomorrow, paper flowers will be constructed and donated to youth programs in the community. On Thursday, students can paint cups filled with goodies that will be taken to cancer patients at local hospitals. Students can also mix cookie ingredients for gifts to workers of the Student Union Memorial Center.

On Friday, students will have the opportunity to help the hungry in our community by decorating bags of food.

That is just a taste of what volunteers do on a weekly basis, said Breanna Weeks, a communication junior and president of Project Volunteer.

"Fall service week is such a great opportunity because it targets students on campus and gives them an opportunity to help promote volunteerism," she said. "It gets the name out there to the point that hopefully they'll join the listserv."

Project Volunteer boasts a listserv with more than 800 names of people willing to lend a hand. Each week, Weeks sends listserv members an e-mail detailing projects that need student help. Even with the large number of people at her disposal, Weeks says that more people are always needed.

Project Volunteer, which has been a part of the UA community for nearly 20 years, has seven committees. Weeks said that the organization has so many activities that students are bound to find a way to fit volunteering into their schedule.

Project Volunteer also provides transportation to all of its activities, making volunteering even easier, Weeks said.

Panwar said the organization is always looking for new volunteers who need to fulfill service requirements or simply want to make a difference in the lives of people in the Tucson community.

"We create the opportunity for those who want to volunteer," said Jane Davis, a biology senior.

The most important part of fall service week is letting students know that they have the ability to make a difference, she said.