Lebanon Valley College Students Volunteer More Than 20,000 Community Service Hours

ANNVILLE, PA (05/24/2012)(readMedia)-- Lebanon Valley College students completed 20,039 hours of service during the 2011–2012 academic year, equaling $436,650 worth of service, mostly for the greater Lebanon community. The annual total is the highest since the standards for qualified hours were revised four years ago. Students reported 17,877 qualified service hours in 2010–2011, 15,671 service hours in 2009–2010, and 13,334 qualified hours in 2008–2009.

Generally, qualified community service hours are hours for which an individual does not receive financial compensation served during the academic year in work which directly benefits either people experiencing poverty, discrimination, abuse, poor health, old age, and/or physical-mental limitations or the protection of animals or the environment. Specific guidelines regulate the reporting of hours served as part of an academic course, traveling to and from service sites, etc.

Students track individual and group hours served via an Internet-based interface. Shortly after electronic submission, qualified service hours are posted to individual accounts available to students via the Internet.

Service in Response to Flooding in Central Pennsylvania

Student service organizations, athletic teams and individuals reported more than 400 hours of service following the flooding which struck central Pennsylvania in early September 2011. Because the College was inaccessible by road for extended periods of time and campus buildings were flooded, the College closed at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7, remained closed Thursday, and didn't re-open until 10 a.m. Friday. Resident students used the time to assist in various capacities around greater Annville, including volunteering at the Union Hose Fire Company to answer phones, log requests and distribute FEMA forms to area residents. Others traveled to several local homes to clean up debris and move waterlogged items to dry.

In the months following the flooding, two Lebanon Valley College student organizations hosted a fundraising concert benefiting the Union Hose Fire Company in Annville. "Annville's fire department worked very hard to return the town back to normal as quickly as possible," said Jonathan O'Neill '12, a music business major from Gordon. "We thought it would be great to put together a concert-Firefighter Fright Night-at LVC to honor all of the hard work our firefighters have done to help Annville. We cannot thank them enough."

LVC's Physical Therapy Free Clinic (C.U.R.E.)

In the fall of 2011, Lebanon Valley College celebrated the opening of clinic to provide free physical therapy treatment for referred patients of the Lebanon Free Clinic, operated by Water Street Health Services. Known as "C.U.R.E." (Compassionate Undenied Rehabilitation Experience), the clinic is run by a team of physical therapy students in their final three years of LVC's doctoral program in physical therapy under the supervision of LVC advisors Dr. Stan Dacko and Dr. Katie Oriel. Treatments include hands-on care given by students paired with exercises to address pain, mobility, and loss of function. Each client has a program specific to his or her unique needs with treatments including stretching, strengthening, pain management, and aerobic exercise. Each physical therapy session is overseen by a licensed physical therapist. The group reported 594 hours of service to the local community in 2011-2012.

Thirteen LVC Students Excel in Community Service

During the 2011-2012 academic year, 13 students earned sufficient community service hours to qualify for Gold Community Service Awards, having served more than 100 hours and as part of a multi-day residential service project: Kailah Buckwalter of Denver; Nicole Dennis of Bethlehem; Kira Echeandia of Upper Marlboro, Md.; Alyssa Godown of Quakertown; Gabrielle Groff of York; Jessica Hinkley of Herndon; Karen Holzwarth of Denver; Darcie Jenkins of Oil City; Brianna Jones of Catawissa; Daniel Kimmel of Annville; Kirstin Lutz of Denver; Amanda Nein of Lebanon; and Halley Washburn of Lansdale.

Many of the 2012 recipients worked with the Camp Hill-based service organization "Lend a Hand" over spring break on a trip to Smithville, Miss. An EF-5 tornado swept through that town in April 2011 and left many of its residents struggling to recover. The group restored roofs and painted the interior of a new home. Other Gold Award recipients served through student organizations Alpha Phi Omega, Gamma Sigma Sigma, Special Olympics ("Community Dutchmen"), and Servants of Christ.

An awards system has been developed as an incentive for students to serve the community. Service awards are posted to the student's Job Center Profile where prospective employees may note the involvement. Students who serve 25–60 hours receive a Bronze Community Service Award, 61–99 hours of service merit a Silver Award, and more than 100 hours of service in addition to participation in a residential project of at least three days earns a student a Gold Award.

Three Outstanding Community Service Organizations

Overall, the students represented 57 student organizations, athletic teams, academic departments. Three student organizations stand out among them.

The Football Team completed 669 hours of community service covering a wide variety of service projects, including a large flood clean-up effort in September. The group also had a very strong representation at Relay for Life: 81 members of the team participated in this fundraiser for the American Cancer Society held in the Arnold Sports Arena this past March.

LVC's Business and Economics Department provided 714 hours of community service, in large part as a result of their participation in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program, a free tax-preparation service for individuals and families in our area who earned less than $50,000 during the fiscal year. The program, coordinated by Patricia Keefer with the oversight of adjunct professor Brion Smoker as well as professor David Rudd, department chair, involved students volunteering the better part of their Saturday mornings and afternoons from late February through early April.

Students involved in the service organization Alpha Phi Omega (APO) complete an impressive number and variety of service projects each year. APO coordinated or assisted in 17 projects during Fall 2011, serving 917 service hours. Among the major projects were blood drives held on campus multiple times throughout the academic year. Members of the group play games with residents at Cornwall Manor, assist with local Boy Scout troops, and walk dogs and clean cages at the Humane Society on a regular basis. They are also a significant core among the volunteers at the Bethesda Mission in Harrisburg.

Valuing Community Service

According to the Independent Sector, a coalition of leading nonprofits, corporations, and foundations, volunteer time was valued at $21.79 per hour during 2011. The dollar value of the students' volunteer time was arrived at by multiplying their 20,039 hours of service by that hourly rate. This figure is based on the average hourly earnings of all production and non-supervisory workers on private non-farm payrolls (as determined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). The Independent Sector increases this figure by 12 percent to estimate for fringe benefits.

The community service figures come from data compiled by Rev. Paul M. Fullmer, LVC's chaplain and director of community service and volunteerism. Fullmer gathers community service information on monthly reports from all student organization presidents and athletic coaches, asking that they report on the times, dates, hours, number of participants, etc. involved in community service. These forms are then compiled in a database for tracking purposes.