Last week, 475 freshmen volunteered with the Freshman Service Experience, a three day long program that allowed them to do community service at 37 sites across the D.C. metropolitan area.
The program has drastically grown since 35 students participated in the first FSE in 1990. Past FSE volunteers now serving as group leaders returned to help the freshmen participants at their sites. Coordinators assigned each volunteer to a group and, in turn, each group helped out at an assigned site for three days.
Many sites were schools that needed volunteers to help teachers prepare for the upcoming year, according to participants. At other sites, volunteers created libraries, made sandwiches, put up fliers and campaigned on Capitol Hill for D.C. voting rights. Other volunteers made safe-sex packets for people at risk for contracting HIV, painted benches, scrubbed an outdoor mural and farmed organic produce, according to participants.
Kaydee Lindsey, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she liked the variety of projects the FSE program undertook.
"FSE's incredible diversity of projects allows individuals to contribute in their own way and to perpetuate an active life of service during their years at AU," she said.
Nicole Lombardo, a freshman in the School of International Service who worked with teachers at Bancroft Elementary in Mount Pleasant, said she felt FSE was different from other forms of community service.
"How it compares to other community service is that FSE gives more immediate and intense satisfaction because you can see the results of what you're doing and who you're helping [firsthand]," she said.
Ruth Chan, director of events for LEAP, a learning enrichment program, said she was pleased with the FSE volunteers' work.
"They're volunteering to do things I didn't even ask them to," she said. "It's so great having them here."
Ramiro Acosta, a bilingual pre-kindergarten teacher at Bruce-Monroe Elementary in Petworth, said he is constantly swamped with work and valued the work FSE students did at the school.
"Believe me, you can't do this all yourself," he said. "These students are tremendously helpful."
Alex Devendorf, a sophomore in the School of International Service and the FSE leader at MacFarland Middle School in 16th Street Heights, said there can never be too many volunteers.
"There just weren't enough people to go around," she said. "The teachers we were helping actually got a little frustrated."
Ernest Yombo, assistant principal at MacFarland Middle School, said he believed AU students can serve as positive mentors for his students, as long as they make an ongoing effort to do so.
"It cannot be just for one time," he said. "We want to be the number one school in the D.C. area ... we need all the help we can get."
Cassandra Hetherington, volunteer manager for Community of Hope, said her organization does not work with many other organizations or programs like FSE because other volunteers aren't as professional as the AU volunteers.
Kent Amos, founder of Community Academy Public Charter School and a former AU student athlete, said he believes people should help improve life for future generations.
"There's more to life than just you," he said. "We all have a responsibility to the next generation."
Students interested in performing further community service should call the Community Service Center at 202-885-7378 or e-mail volunteer@american.edu.
