Students `reach out' to Houston community

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by Angelique Siy

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Of the 450 students who signed up to participate in Outreach Day, approximately three-fourths of them donated their time Sat., Sept. 23, to one of 26 Houston service agencies.

Heather Syrett, assistant director of student activities, described the project as having gone "really well."

"The students had great experiences and many have decided to commit themselves on a long-term basis. ... And that's our purpose -- to introduce students to service as a part of life," she said.

Syrett said that this year's event introduced a number of changes.

"The concept of Outreach Day has not changed, but the logistics of running it have," she said.

"This semester was the first one where the actual turnout was documented. Project diversity and student support has remained about the same, and the student evaluations I've seen so far have been positive," Syrett said.

Student Involvement

Jessica Williams, a graduate student, was the site coordinator for the Houston Institute for the Protection of Youth (HIPY).

"This was my fifth Outreach Day, and it was by far the most profound experience I've had. ... HIPY's a shelter for homeless children, but they were all actually around our age. It took a while to figure out how to approach them; we were worried that they would see us as `the rich Rice kids from down the street,' but they didn't care at all. We met about 12 kids from ages 16 to 24 who, for the most part, have lived on the street for their entire lives," Williams said.

"There was one kid named Bill who lives under a bridge not far from my apartment. He's 18 now and he doesn't go to school whatsoever. Really, I think none of us went home happy that day."

"[The kids] have a lot of problems, drug problems and stuff, and nobody to take care of them at all. If they'd ever had parents around, maybe they could have done more. ... They should be like us, thinking of the future, but they just don't. Actually, it's kinda hard to know what makes them keep going, if they do at all," she said.

Jennifer Kong, a Will Rice College sophomore and the site coordinator for the Houston Humane Society, said, "The whole thing went really well, almost all the people who signed up went.

"[E]veryone enjoyed doing what we were doing ... taking the dogs out to walk, playing with the dogs and cats and having fun in general.

"In addition, it kind of helped put people together who didn`t know each other. Some people who went are even planning to go back and volunteer some more there," she said.

Wiess College senior David Sissman, the Habitat for Humanity administrative coordinator, said, "The afternoon was good. ... We had some students outside the house, putting up styrofoam insulation, and there were students inside plumbing the walls. We had approximately 20 students throughout, and it worked very well."

Lovett College freshman Bassam Latif, site coordinator for the Center for the Retarded, said, "There weren't many of us; about five came out of the 16 who signed up, but other than that, it was pretty good.

"We played softball with them ... they beat us; we're pretty bad, but they enjoyed it, and we enjoyed it."

Kim Ho, a Lovett freshman who also participated in the project, said, "It was incredible -- a really good experience. We were a really intimate group and we got to interact with the residents.

"The residents were really appreciative, and we just hung out and had a good time. I'm going back to do some more work there."

Will Rice College senior Patricia Hampton was the Trees for Houston site coordinator. "We mulched and pruned the trees along Greenbriar on the side of Rice and Bellaire. About half the people showed up who signed up, but everyone who came had fun. The weather was great. ... Everyone was pretty happy with the event and what happened overall."

The Future

In coming years, Syrett would like to see Outreach Day as more of a Rice community outing, rather than just a student activity.

She was also very pleased with the results of training student coordinators to conduct reflection activities and intends to continue the practice.

Coordinators were instructed to facilitate a brief discussion with the participants of each project after returning from that site.

"Everyone seemed to respond well ... the activity gave everything a nice closure," she said.

Several local organizations contributed to the success of Outreach Day. Central Kitchen donated 100 sack lunches for Loaves and Fishes and coffee for the morning volunteers. Custodial and Groundskeeping Services supplied all the equipment for the indoor and outdoor projects, including brooms, shovels, wheelbarrows, rakes, gloves and vacuums.

The Hot Bagel Shop donated 40 dozen bagels. What remained uneaten by Rice students was donated to Magnificat House, a private, non-profit organization for the homeless. The Rice Campus Store gave $50 worth of merchandise as prizes for the residents at the Center for the Retarded. Coca-Cola supplied a 1,000-drink machine for the entire day. Fiesta donated $30 of goods, and Kroger donated $20 of goods.

RSVP

The Rice Student Volunteer Program was founded in 1985 by Scott Biddy, who is now a Sid Richardson College Resident Associate. He established the organization to act as "a clearinghouse for volunteer opportunities ... to act as a matchmaker between Houston service agencies and Rice students." According to Biddy, Outreach Day is a great opportunity for everyone to sample the spirit of volunteerism.

"Once you've participated in a one-day thing, it's easy to make a more long-term commitment," he said.

Since 1987, volunteers participating in Outreach Day have repaired and painted 14 homes, sorted and boxed food, refurbished a shelter for children with AIDS, served meals in soup kitchens and built a playground at a Houston park.

Outreach Day has had such an impact on Rice alumni that they continue the tradition all over the United States and in as many as 15 cities across Europe.

Last year a group of Rice alumni contributed to a National Education Day endeavor on the Mall in Washington, D.C.

RCIC

The Rice Community Involvement Center is an addition goal is to increase contact and communication between Rice and Houston.

This year, the center seeks to distinguish itself from RSVP by involving Rice staff, faculty, alumni and students in community-wide service projects, whereas RSVP's focus is on the student body. Assistant directors of student affairs Heather Syrett and Catherine McKay plan to offer a three-credit-hour class through Lovett College in the spring.

The class objectives are to provide exposure, information and understanding about the role of community service in students' lives, in Houston and in service organizations. Students who enroll will be expected to keep a journal, participate in class discussions, involve themselves with community service agencies and evaluate their experiences.

This item appeared in the News section of the September 29, 1995 issue.

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