Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Linn-Benton Students & Local Youth Give Back to the Community

By Alex Paul, Gazette-Times
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Alex Humphrey was an active campaigner for President-elect Barack Obama and took his words about the need for nationwide community service to heart. On Monday, January 19 Alex and some 80 to 100 other young people put those words into action throughout Corvallis.

The Crescent Valley High School junior and the others in the community tackled several projects in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Teams committed their day away from classwork to helping others at the Jackson Street Youth Shelter and Community Outreach, by picking up trash around town and collecting canned food at Richey’s Market and Albertsons. “President-elect Obama wants to emphasize greater community service for all,” Alex said. “The Obama family is doing community service work in Washington, D.C., today.”

Alex said the project list was compiled by researching how local civic groups and agencies serve the community. “I contacted several groups, and the Jackson Street Youth Shelter had at least six projects that needed done,” Alex said. Volunteers were busy Monday morning wheeling loads of dirt for raised flower beds, scraping gunk from a barbecue grill, clipping tree branches, fixing flat bicycle tires, building a covered bike shelter and varnishing wood inside the building. “We’re doing lots of fun stuff,” Alex said.

Alex said he spread the word about the project much like the Obama campaign —on Facebook. “Facebook was a huge help,” Alex said. “I also put it in the announcements at school. Friends told other friends. There are lots of people here today that I don’t know.” Alex said he was fronting the estimated $600 worth of lumber needed to construct the covered bicycle area, with hopes that he will be reimbursed by Obama supporters.

“I hope everyone goes home today with a feeling of accomplishment,” Alex said. “I hope they don’t feel like they wasted their day off school and they feel like they did good work.” Tony Wu, 17, a junior at Crescent Valley High, wielded long-handled shears to cut low-hanging limbs from a tall fir tree in the youth center’s back yard. Tony said he was glad other students took the time to “do something beneficial for the community. It builds character.”

Erynne van Zee, 13, and Elizabeth Humphrey, 13, both in the eighth grade at Ashbrook Independent School, used rakes to spread wheelbarrow loads of fresh dirt into raised flower beds. “It’s a great experience to help with these kinds of projects in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.,” Elizabeth said. “I am also very excited about the inauguration tomorrow.”

Linn-Benton Community College students Justin Stoll, 21, and Phil Allen, 18, got their hands dirty scrubbing a barbecue grill while, a few feet away, Jonathon Brown, 15, and Ben Overman, 15, both Corvallis High students, repaired flat bicycle tires. The Jackson Street Youth Shelter is at 555 N.W. Jackson Ave. It houses boys and girls ages 10 to 17, according to development coordinator Hava Terry. “We provide a place to stay for emergency situations to help them through those hard teen years,” Terry said. The shelter can house up to nine young people at a time and is funded through grants and donations.

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