Time well spent
Students spread out across city to serve organizations
Trending
For Ava Herr, the vice president of the PRIDE Alliance, participating in Penn State Altoona's annual Voluntoona event means giving back to the city where her family has deep roots.
"We're trying to make it better while we're still here," Herr said.
For the past 10 years, Penn State Altoona has partnered with local agencies to place its students around the community for a morning of volunteer service, according to Penn State Altoona's website.
Since its start in 2013, over 2,400 students have volunteered more than 6,300 hours of service to over 50 participating agencies, Marissa Carney, media relations coordinator at Penn State Altoona, said.
This year, about 80 students took part in Voluntoona, taking time out of their busy schedules to complete tasks at the Altoona Community Theater, Railroaders Memorial Museum, Vineyard Altoona, The Door in Bellwood, Mission Central HUB, PSU Alumni Society Adopt a Highway Clean Up and along Juniata Gap Road, according to Donna Pearlman, administrative assistant for the Office of Student and Civic Engagement.
"The spirit of Voluntoona is to civically engage our students," Pearlman said. "Penn State students rely on and appreciate taxpayer support for their education. Voluntoona is just a small way those students can give back to the community that already supports them."
Herr, along with other members of the PRIDE Alliance and the PSU Altoona Dance Team, volunteered at the Altoona Community Theater by taking down old posters, hanging new ones, organizing and labeling costume areas, cleaning and painting sets for the upcoming "Oliver!" production.
"My family has always been a part of the Mishler Theatre, so it's great to give back," Herr said.
After the sets are completed, Alice Oswald, administrative assistant and bookkeeper for ACT, said they will be sent over to the Mishler Theatre.
"It's great to have the help," Oswald said. "Others are helping with the organizing and cleaning. It's an old, dusty building so it needs it."
At the Railroaders Memorial Museum, some students spent time doing yard work while others worked inside cleaning the miniature train layout on the third floor.
"It's always very helpful in the spring to get things spruced up after a long winter -- a general readiness of the facilities," executive director Joe DeFrancesco said.
While it's the first Voluntoona event the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association PSU Altoona Student Chapter has participated in, treasurer Zach Rudisill said that they already volunteer at the museum about once a month.
"We figured it was a different way to give back," Rudisill said. "There are a lot of small projects that need done."
Members of the PSU Altoona Student Government Association took to the kid's room at the Vineyard Altoona Church to repaint the walls.
"We're helping to give it a new life," SGA President Aiden Concese said. "I just love helping out in the community."
Evan Kephart, who ministers to students at Penn State Altoona in partnership with Vineyard Altoona and works for the Coalition for Christian Outreach, said the church is in the progress of renovating its entire kids wing.
"It's super helpful, everything that happens here happens on volunteer time," Kephart said. "Painting this room would have taken a member of our staff a day or more. It's nice to have it knocked out in a morning."
At The Door in Bellwood, students helped with gardening and cleaning and organizing its art room, while at Mission Central HUB, they put together various kits for the needy. Others also helped the PSU Altoona Alumni Society with an Adopt a Highway clean up.
Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.