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Spring 2004, Volume 46, Number 1

Helping Hands

By Ann Carney, Photography by Gina Villanueva and Jason Marsh

Juggling coursework, part-time jobs and a host of college activities, USF students still find time to donate more than 60,000 hours of volunteer service throughout the Tampa Bay region.

Days after arriving at USF in her freshman year, Felicea Robinson got lost. Trying to work her way through the Marshall Center’s second floor maze, she stumbled upon a small office with a makeshift sign— Volunteer USF.

Little did Robinson know, the tiny office was about to become a big part of her college experience. Already it was making an important difference for hundreds of people in the Tampa Bay area.

Volunteer USF offers students and staff the opportunity to get involved for an hour, a day or a week at a time, through a variety of service projects and activities that impact just about every segment of the local population. Some feed the homeless, some teach seniors to dance, some plant trees, some simply hold hands. But whatever they do, USF volunteers are making an impact.

"They are a vital part of what we do,” says Lisa Weikel, coordinator of community relations for Metropolitan Ministries, an organization that serves the homeless and those at risk of being homeless. “They fit in wherever we need them.” Since 2001, USF students have helped sort, collect and distribute food for Metropolitan Ministries. They’ve delivered holiday toys and collected thousands of pounds of canned goods on campus.

"With the work of Amy Simon and her staff, in the last three years Volunteer USF has really taken off,” says Wilma Henry, assistant vice president for Student Affairs. “Today’s students want to be involved in giving back in some way.”

Last year alone, nearly 14,000 volunteers recorded more than 60,000 hours of service with Volunteer USF—a 158 percent increase over the previous year. But, says Amy Simon, coordinator for Volunteer USF, those numbers hardly tell the real story. They account only for a fraction of the good deeds carried out by USF students and staff.

"We don’t even know about so much that goes on,” says Simon. “They aren’t in it for the hours.” Still, she adds, marketing is her biggest challenge. Generating awareness and connecting with individuals, departments and organizations is a full-time job.

Part of the Division of Student Affairs and funded by student fees, Volunteer USF pays only one staff coordinator and one part time graduate student adviser. Even so, desks and computer terminals in the office are filled with students who make running the program a part of their daily schedule.

For Robinson, an Honors College student, that means carving out time between an 18 credit-hour schedule and responsibilities as a USF Ambassador. “It’s all about time management; it’s about making time to help people who’ve been forgotten.” But she says she couldn’t do it alone. “It is because of God that I am able to bless others.”

Volunteer USF programs fall into three main categories: Bulls SERVE, BLAST and Alternative Breaks. Bulls SERVE (Students Engaged in Reflective Volunteer Experiences) projects are short term and flexible, filling the days on a monthly calendar with opportunities at some 25 area organizations. Projects can be one-time or ongoing and are “hands on,” like serving meals at a homeless shelter, helping young hospital patients with a simple art project or just chatting with seniors at a nursing home. Volunteer USF makes the arrangements, including transportation, often working with campus groups committed to service, including sororities and fraternities.

BLAST (Bulls Leading and Serving Tampa) projects are large, short term events, sometimes focused on a specific date such as the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. In recognition of the event in January, about 200 USF students installed a variety of plants at a local park, making community beautification the focus of their efforts. In November, USF volunteers hosted an on-campus Hunger Banquet, where guests, largely students, were served the typical meal of a first- world, second-world or third-world country, depending on the ticket they drew. Last month, about 75 senior citizens traveled to the USF campus for a night of socializing, and dancing—it was Volunteer USF’s annual Senior Prom.

Students who want to immerse themselves in a service experience opt for Alternative Breaks. These weekend and week-long programs take students outside of the community to places like Washington, D.C. or New York City where they give structured time to others in need, all the while living together, making new friends and visiting other parts of the country.

This spring, five Alternative Breaks brought groups of 10 to 16 students each to Jacksonville, Atlanta, New York, New Orleans or Washington, D.C. They helped rehabilitate homes for the elderly, provided meals and services to the homeless, taught teens about HIV prevention and participated in activities with children. In addition to donating their time, each paid up to $250 for basic travel expenses. Even so, the drug- and alcohol-free trips, are so popular, students are being turned away.

"It’s an intense, all-encompassing experience,” says Simon. “We don’t stay in hotels; students often sleep in shelters or churches. It’s not glamorous.”

But, Simon says, it’s a way to make a difference, to make friends and to learn about the realities of life. And while the breaks only last a few days, planning and related activities make it a year-long event.

Volunteerism has long been a part of the USF culture. But, it wasn’t until 2001 that Volunteer USF transformed itself from an information and referral center, to a fully functioning volunteer center with ongoing programs, services and resources for students, student organizations, faculty and staff. Today, the organization coordinates service for 13 social issues and interacts with 250 community agencies. And while that transformation has occurred under Simon’s direction, she insists it’s the group’s 14-person student leadership board and thousands of student volunteers who make Volunteer USF what it is today.

"Volunteer USF provides the opportunity for students to get involved in coordinating activities,” says Henry. “They get the chance to strengthen their leadership skills and give back to the community in a program that directly supports the university’s goal of community engagement.”

"If folks come in here with an idea, it definitely happens. You just have to be creative,” Simon says. "Everyone has a different way or need for getting involved. There’s no limit to the way people can serve.”

Simon believes a changing culture has a lot to do with the success of Volunteer USF. “We’ve done a good job as a nation to make service a part of kindergarten through twelfth grade. People come here expecting to be involved because they’ve been involved.”

That’s the case for Robinson, now a junior and a leadership board member, who says helping others has always been a part of her life thanks to the solid guidance of her parents and close-knit family. “You never know what you might need someone to do for you one day,” she says. “When you have the opportunity to get involved, seize the moment.”

Last year alone, nearly 14,000 volunteers recorded more than 60,000 hours of service with Volunteer USF—a 158% increase over the previous year.