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Show Community service is an adventure Community service is an adventure, adven-ture, according to student volunteers volun-teers with the Lowell Bennion Community Service Center at the University of Utah. Joining in that adventure is Davis County resident Dave Van-deMerwe, Van-deMerwe, who is serving as an intern in-tern for the 1988-89 school year. Each intern plans and implements a community service project, as well as carries out ongoing organizational organi-zational functions for the center. VandeMerwe's emphasis is the "Befriend-A-Grandparent" project. pro-ject. His responsibility is to organize orga-nize the project, identify needs, and recruit and direct volunteers to offer ongoing help, support and companionship to elderly people who live alone. Last year, VandeMerwe, who had never volunteered previously, served one Saturday a month helping help-ing the elderly, and he saw a real -need for volunteers. "I always used to think that those things would get done by somebody," he says, "but that's not always the case." "The elderly are so grateful for any help they get," says VandeMerwe. Van-deMerwe. Seeing this helped point him to greater involvement with the elderly this year in his internship. intern-ship. Each month VandeMerwe directs a project such as cleaning yards and painting houses, which involves 20 to 40 people from local sororities, clubs and other groups. All labor is donated, but the groups must rely on donations for paint and other supplies. Funded through a grant from the Salt Lake Rotary Foundation, seven internships are available each year. According to the center's cen-ter's mission, those who participate partici-pate "will find meaning through community service and pleasure in the improvement of life around them," which far outweighs the small stripend each will receive. The center, which was established estab-lished by former students of Lowell Bennion as a tribute to his unflagging commitment to community com-munity service and his belief in social so-cial and economic justice for all, seeks to involve students, faculty and staff in community service. A 1983 graduate of Woods Cross High School, VandeMerwe is a junior at the University of Utah majoring in biology, with a minor in sociology. He is the son of J.W. and Donna VandeMerwe, 118 S. . 300 E., North Salt Lake. |
