Illinois Wesleyan Students to Participate in Volunteer Weekend

March 31, 2003

On Friday, April 4 and Saturday, April 5, students from Illinois Wesleyan will participate in the eighth annual Volunteer Weekend to support National Volunteer Week.

The four main Volunteer Weekend projects across the community include first aid training to elementary students by IWU students, a reading session at HCR ManorCare Home, a Kid’s Carnival, and an Easter Seals Camp project. Volunteers are invited to attend the Kick-off Luncheon, on Friday, April 4 from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. at McPherson Beach on the Illinois Wesleyan Eckley Quadrangle, where there will be two keynote speakers and T-shirts will be given out.

The first project is a training session for IWU students sponsored by The American Red Cross. IWU students will receive training in basic first aid from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Shirk Center classrooms, 302 Emerson St., Bloomington. The following week, the students will use what they learn in the training session to teach over 300 elementary students in the Bloomington/Normal area.

On Saturday afternoon, students from the Sisters Actively Visualizing Vitality and Intellect (SAVVI) group on campus will donate their time by reading to senior citizens that live at the HCR ManorCare Home, 510 Broadway Rd., Normal.

Also, the Panhellenic and Interfraternity councils on campus are organizing and hosting a free Kid’s Carnival for community children on Saturday, April 5, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on the Eckley Quadrangle, or in the Hansen Student Center in the event of rain. Sorority and Fraternity houses and other Illinois Wesleyan student organizations will run the carnival, which will include games, crafts, and activities such as face painting, plinko, and musical chairs. At least 13 booths from separate organizations will entertain the children.

On Saturday, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., students from across campus will assist in cleaning the Easter Seals Camp at 20 Timber Point Dr., Hudson, Ill. Between 30 and 80 students will perform various projects to ready the camp for its use this summer.

For more information on Volunteer Weekend, contact coordinator Brian Jurinek at the Illinois Wesleyan Career Center at 309/556-3071.