Campus joins together for National Service Week

The week of philanthropy events is sponsored by the Department of Residence Life's El Mundo Committee and Project Volunteer and ends with an all-campus philanthropy Saturday.

Yesterday, the nine residence halls that comprise the Catalina Area Halls sponsored a Literacy Day from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the UA Mall.

The activity will benefit children from the YMCA Afterschool Program.

"The different residence halls collected books from residents, and volunteers will be reading books to kids," said Kathy Adams-Riester, La Paz hall director and El Mundo Committee chairwoman.

The biggest event of the week, "All-Campus Philanthropy: Into the Streets," will be held Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

About 260 students, faculty, and staff have signed up to participate through Project Volunteer, said Mark Bierman, a biochemistry and economics senior and director of special events for Project Volunteer.

About 20 different UA organizations are participating, Bierman said.

Holly Shinn, a journalism sophomore, said she wanted to volunteer for the All-Campus Philanthropy because she is trying to fix the world's problems piece by piece.

"I see a lot of unfairness and injustice in the world, and I feel like rather than sit back and complain about it, I could try to do something," Shinn said.

Project Volunteer contacted Tucson service agencies in February to coordinate the philanthropy with services that needed assistance, Bierman said.

Students have signed up for one of four service projects offered Saturday, he said.

Volunteers will be working with the Family Counseling Agency to assist older and disabled adults with spring cleaning and help renovate the home of an elderly woman.

They will be working with Christmas in April, an annual Tucson event, to rehabilitate and repair low-income houses located in the "A" Mountain neighborhood.

Students will also be renovating the facilities for Esperanza En Escalante.

Christmas in April has attracted the most volunteers - about 190 people - Bierman said.

The All-Campus Philanthropy event will run from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m., followed by a reflection lunch in which volunteers will discuss their work, he said.

"We want the volunteers to be able to share their ideas about community service and involvement. They will also be able to meet other people who have similar interests," Bierman said.

Residence halls will sponsor smaller-sized philanthropies on campus during the week, Adams-Riester said.

Today, "Environmentalism is Service Day," University Activities Board and Project Volunteer will sponsor a paper and plastic drive from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the UA Mall. Students can bring paper and plastic to be recycled.

Tomorrow, "Spring Clean for Service Day," Goodwill Industries will pick up unneeded clothing and items from drop boxes at the Memorial Student Union and residence halls.

Arizona-Sonora Residence Hall, Coronado Residence Hall and Kaibab-Huachuca Residence Hall are sponsoring the clothing drive.

On Friday, "Help the Homeless and Hungry Day," volunteers will assemble about 300 food packs - bag lunches of non-perishable foods - for distribution to local homeless shelters.

The food distribution is sponsored by Apache-Santa Cruz Residence Hall, Graham-Greenlee Residence Hall, Hopi Residence Hall, La Paz Residence Hall and Navajo-Pinal-Sierra Residence Hall.