Students build community

James T. McConatha, Staff Writer
Published On: 10/ 7/2008

On Oct. 4, groups of volunteers, including students, staff and faculty, gathered at 20 different locations throughout the Birmingham area to assist their neighbors with community clean up, painting projects and other tasks.

Organized by the UAB Leadership and Service Council in the Office of Student Involvement, “Into the Streets” biannually reaches out from UAB, and participation has grown significantly since the program’s appearance on campus in 1999.

“Usually, we have over 1,000 people participate annually. Last fall, we had our largest fall [program], with about 640 students, so we’ve got volunteer slots this semester for 650 people. Lots of people volunteer. It’s a wonderful day!” said Haydn Swecker, the coordinator of Student Leadership and Greek Life at UAB.

With 47 student groups participating and 65 site leaders to keep volunteers motivated, the program was a huge success.

Stephanie Wilkins, a junior biology major and site leader at the Habitat for Humanity site, indicated that the overall number of volunteers who showed up to participate in the program exceeded the anticipated turnout by 150 people.
“We had to send some of them back!” said Wilkins.

“Into the Streets” began as part of a larger program called Campus Outreach Opportunity League, initiated by Harvard graduate Wayne Meisel in 1984. As the program gained momentum, universities across the nation picked up on the idea that students could and wanted to make a difference in the communities around their campuses. They just needed an organized way to go about it.

This semester, three students from UAB took primary responsibility for making connections between UAB students and the Birmingham communities that needed assistance. Kayla Palmore, Jocelyn Gipson and Derek van Gerwen found time in their busy student schedules to locate work sites, organize volunteer groups and make arrangements for the after party celebration at the UAB Mini Park. The university even provided a bus for students who needed transportation to some of the sites.

Volunteers at the Birmingham Zoo put up a fence in the Africa exhibit and mulched the primate area, while volunteers with the Friends of Shades Creek spent their time collecting trash around the creek.

At Arrington Middle School, 75 students worked in the cafeteria, cleaned up outside and painted the locker room.
“We had a good time! We got good and dirty, that’s for sure,” said D.J. Taylor, a junior biology major who volunteered at the school. “We even had some extra time before the bus got there to throw some football with some of the kids and make some relationships. It was really cool.”

At the Habitat for Humanity site in Wylam, UAB students helped to dress the skeletons of two homes under construction. Site leader Stephanie Wilkins explained that she had worked for the Habitat folks in the past while doing community service through UAB.

Over the rapping of hammers and buzzing of circular saws, she said, “I think it’s a great program. It really helps people out. The way the economy is now … this is a much needed organization.”

Balancing along the rafters, additional site leader Jeanne Cosgrove, a senior Early Childhood Development and Elementary Education major, was helping to hoist sheets of plywood into position on the east side of one of the Habitat houses.

By noon, the UAB Mini Park was filled with volunteers, weary from their work and searching for a little nourishment. Members of the Leadership and Service Council passed out T-shirts and pizza — a fitting compliment to the general sense of accomplishment that permeated the gathering. With such success this semester and excitement over the program, “Into the Streets” has set yet another benchmark to be beat.

Email: jmcconat@uab.edu