H2O's New School Year
H2O students and Ranger Fellows at Terra Vista area, Cuyahoga Valley National Park
H2O, “Help to Others” has had a remarkable start to the 2011-2012 school year. The students are energized and responsive to the many volunteer opportunities that have been presented to them. This first month has included some events that are familiar to the program, such as the Lakewood Community Festival, Harrison PTA Child care for meetings, Ronald McDonald House, Trinity Lutheran Community Outreach’s Food Distribution, and the Cedar Valley Settlers Celebration in the Cleveland Metroparks.
Three new sites have been particularly exciting and have forged new partnerships to build on in the future. On Monday, September 12, Kitty Leung came from Asian Services in Action (ASIA) to conduct a training session for H2O members interested in becoming volunteer tutors to their peers and to younger kids who are learning English as a second language. ASIA’s mission is to, “empower Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Northeastern Ohio to access quality, culturally and linguistically appropriate information and services.” Tutoring is one of many programs they offer to support this mission, and it contributes to the families’ success in transitioning to our area. The orientation included information about the background of some of the families and techniques for teaching and communicating with the students in the program. Students who have begun tutoring already have really enjoyed this opportunity.
Tuesday, September 13, students traveled in the H2O van to the Terra Vista area of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park to help Park Ranger Lisa Fellows with an on-going project to clear out the invasive species, Autumn Olive. Autumn Olive was introduced intentionally to help stop erosion, as well as for its ornamental beauty (the shrub is easily identifiable by the attractive silver underside of its leaves). Unfortunately, Autumn Olive berries have no nutritional value for local wildlife, but birds eat them anyway and spread the seeds far and wide. With no natural predators, it is left to spread rapidly, choking out native, habitat-providing plants (including trees!). The scope of the project is to clear six acres of the pesky plant and then invite more public use of this area of the park. H2O volunteers made nice dents in this large amount of work during several visits this summer and on this after-school trip.
H2O helped Lakewood Community Services Center launch its pilot program to distribute groceries in Senior Citizen housing to supplement their monthly income. On September 16, the volunteers and staff unloaded the van, purchase with a United Way grant, then set off in pairs to deliver to individual residences in the Westerley. Between the meticulous organizing by LCSC staff and the extra muscle provided by H2O high school students, this large project was completed smoothly and fairly quickly. The residents seemed to genuinely appreciate not just the food, but the friendly delivery right to their kitchen counters. The students who attended enjoyed making a difference in their community in such a warm, personal and direct way.
So what’s next for H2O? A full month of volunteering in October, of course! The Middle School program begins this month with after-school meetings at both middle schools and LCA. This is an opportunity for younger kids to learn about community service by working on projects. They then get a chance to have some fun while growing socially through games and activities. The largest undertaking is preparing for and presenting Pumpkin Palooza (see our related article in this issue of the Lakewood Observer).
H2O, Help to Others, is a program of the Division of Youth supported by the City of Lakewood with a strong partnership with the Lakewood City Schools. If you would like more information about how to participate, please call Assistant Coordinator Emmie Hutchison at (216)529-4173.