Heat doesn’t deter volunteers
Gen Xers sweat it out for kids

BARBARA CLEMENTS; The News Tribune
Published: July 23rd, 2006

The whine of weed whackers and the low rumble of lawn mowers filled the neighborhood around Reed Elementary School on Tacoma’s East Side early Saturday morning. And the ruckus wasn’t generated by homeowners out to beat Saturday’s heat.

Instead, about 40 volunteers from Safe Streets and United Way gathered in the school’s parking lot to cut brush, trim trees and shaggy grass medians, all to make walking to school each day a bit more pleasant and safe for the school’s 500 students.

About 300 of those walk from their homes, estimated Assistant Principal Eric Konishi.

Picking up trash about two blocks from the school, Principal Chris Hinds said she hopes Saturday’s endeavor would be “a relatively easy first step” to entice community involvement in the surrounding neighborhood.

A few residents and Safe Street volunteers turned out, but most of the

volunteers came from United Way and Project:U, an effort by United Way to involve 20- and 30-somethings in community service and volunteerism.

Judging from Saturday’s turnout, the program seemed to be working.

“Generation Xers seem to want to get their hands dirty,” said Erika Tucci, who works with United Way as a fundraiser and is one of the leaders of Project:U.

She estimated that volunteers Saturday came from as far away as King and Thurston counties.

But Carolyn Van Sant, 27, didn’t have to walk far to show up for Saturday’s shift, which lasted from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. She rents a home right down the street and is considering buying on the East Side next year.

She said recent reports of gangs moving into the area have given the entire neighborhood a bad reputation. Walking past homes with wind chimes, garden art and emerald lawns, she noted that there is another, cozier picture of the East Side that many overlook.

Still, students shouldn’t have to step into the street to avoid weeds or duck under overhanging branches as they travel on overgrown sidewalks, she added.

“I walked to school my whole life, and in middle school I had to walk over a mile,” she said.

Jennifer Shiu, 30, another Project:U volunteer from Puyallup, works as a urban forester for the City of Tacoma. As one of the leaders of Project:U, Shiu said she and the leadership team had to attract volunteers in a different way.

Rather than more traditional volunteerism of bake sales, car washes or other fundraisers that her parents might be familiar with, Project:U might have martini night at a local club, with proceeds going toward a worthy cause. Or it could mean a day of picking up trash on the East Side.

“There really needs to be a social aspect,” to the projects, she said.