Volunteer organizations rally students

By Olivia Obineme

Published: Wednesday, December 10, 2008

The Office of Student Activities hosted its second Tiger Serve fair Tuesday for students who wanted to volunteer to meet and talk with different organizations, all of which benefit children and adults with disabilities.

There were four organizations present in the Loch Raven Room of the University Union, including The League, Athelas Institute Inc., The Arc of Baltimore and The Arc of Howard County. All organizations agreed that having young people volunteer is important.

“Having the young people gives everyone a lot of energy and they [the young people] have fun themselves,” director of volunteers and interns at The Arc of Baltimore Debbie Staigerwald said.

Senior psychology major Janessa Jones, who has volunteered at Sheppard Pratt and Springfield Hospital Center, said that young people need to help out because they are the future and they have a lot of things that they can integrate into programs that already exist, such as cultural diversity and understanding that people with disabilities are no different than ourselves.

“I think that volunteering is very rewarding and it is a good way to help out your resume,” Jones said.

Nevertheless, deaf services coordinator at The League Jennifer Curran said that Towson University has done their part in helping disabled students on campus.

“I think students, particularly at Towson, are more aware of people with disabilities.” Curran, a 2003 Towson alumna, said. “TU has made leaps and bounds to make its campus more accessible to people with disabilities.”

According to Curran she has seen students with disabilities interacting with “typical” college students and everybody gets along.

Those who coordinated the event said they were satisfied with the purpose it was meant to serve but disappointed in the turnout.

“We had a lot more people RSVP, but they just did not show up. I think finals had a big impact on the turnout,” Johanna Strokoff, graduate assistant for community service at the Office of Student Activities and the events coordinator, said. Strokoff said that since this was only their second Tiger Serve, it was a learning experience and each time they are learning about what they should do for next time.

“The more people that get out there and actually do something to change the world, the faster it’s going to change,” Curran said.

Courtesy of The Towerlight