A plethora of kindnesses

Students yesterday slapped together peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to be sent off to homeless shelters.

Boxes stood half-filled with donated clothes in University of Arizona residence halls and on the Mall Wednesday, awaiting delivery to a local Big Brothers-Big Sisters branch.

Clusters of UA students sprawled before Old Main's fountain Tuesday, reading storybooks to children bused in by House of Neighborly Service, a South Tucson social service organization.

And students crowded a small table on the Mall Monday to construct cards for children at University Medical Center and cut red ribbons in support of the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation.

Those service activities are connected by a common thread, said Carri DeRose, director of special events for Project Volunteer.

This week is designated Spring Service Week. Project Volunteer, the Center for Service Learning and the Residence Hall Association united to attract student volunteers by bringing the service activities to campus.

"It's meant to give students an option to help out," DeRose said. "Hopefully they'll get a broader idea of what is out in the Tucson community."

And it means a lot to the community, said Barbara Jo McLaughlin, an instructor with House of Neighborly Services, as she shepherded her young charges from South Tucson around campus.

"There aren't a lot of things for kids to do where they come from - it's a rough place," she said. "Things like this give them an idea there are good things in the world."

It also places children into the often-remote college environment that can seem a world apart from where they live, said John Fox, Manzanita-Mojave Residence Hall director and one of the event's organizers.

And the world of college is a lovely one, said 11-year-old Claudia Vega, an aspiring dentist.

"There's a lot of cute things and it's big and pretty," she said.

The service doesn't stop yet - today, Graham-Greenlee Residence Hall will play host to students volunteering to assemble care packages that will be distributed at local homeless shelters.

The finale of the week is Saturday's All-Campus Philanthropy, the only event requiring registration.

Students at that event can choose from service opportunities that range from working at the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation to staffing sports events at the Lighthouse YMCA.