Central Michigan Life

Issue date: 11/19/07 Section: News

Mount Pleasant resident Roy Jagodzinski smiles as Stanton senior Hannah Baldwin draws his caricature Sunday afternoon in Finch Fieldhouse during Access Recreation's Carnival Day. With various games and prizes, the carnival caters to those with developmental disabilities in the local area. [Click to enlarge]

Organizing volunteering is a main part of Clarkston senior Andrea Aldrich's job description.

Aldrich, an events coordinator at Mount Pleasant Access Recreation, relies on the help of others to ensure events like Sunday's "Carnival Day" runs smoothly.

Carnival Day is just one of many events sponsored by Access Recreation, a program geared toward community members with developmental disabilities.

The event, which took place at Finch Fieldhouse, included a variety of carnival games and activities such as a bean bag toss, face painting, balloon animals and a cake walk. The activities allowed the participants to have fun and work on their hand-eye coordination skills.

"Our volunteers are a huge asset and we depend on them a lot for these events," Aldrich said. "The fact that they came out here today and helped made this a huge success."

Many of the volunteers were CMU students majoring in different areas of recreation, which require a certain amount of service hours. Some students fulfill those hours by helping with other Access Recreation events like weekly bowling at the Student Activity Center, dances, swims and craft nights.

"Interacting with the participants makes you instantly feel better about yourself," Aldrich said. "They always put a smile on your face."

The success of Access Recreation's events depends not only on volunteers, but also on community donations.

"It's really a community effort," said Carol Moody, Mount Pleasant Parks and Recreation coordinator. "The support we get from CMU and other donors for our events is incredible."

One of those donors is Kohl's, 4855 Encore Blvd., who makes donations through their "A-Team" program. For every five employees who sign up to volunteer for three or more hours, Kohl's donates $500 for that event.

"We try to do at least one event a month," said Jen Amond, Grand Rapids senior and Kohl's associate. "I really like it because it's different from just handing a check over. It gets our associates involved in helping out in the community."

Charlotte junior Allen Ollenburger volunteered for Carnival Day for his RPL 210: Rec Diverse Populations course.

"I like volunteering because everyone is really easygoing," Ollenburger said. "Seeing the participants enjoying themselves is very rewarding."


news@cm-life.com

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools