Despite the heavy rainfall, the A.S. Volunteer Connection and other local agencies launched its annual Hands on San Diego event on May 3, participating at designated volunteering projects throughout San Diego.
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The projects included food packaging for the San Diego Food Bank, a UCSD Friends Understanding Needs scavenger hunt and the preparation of flower arrangement sales for AIDS research.
Several volunteers were held back as 13 events were canceled due to the rain, including the Special Olympics, the Track and Field Meet, and the Habitat for Humanity building project.
Volunteer Connection members noted that unlike past years when volunteer turnouts have been slowly increasing, this year witnessed a drop in the number of participating volunteers due to the bad weather.
However, this did not deter volunteers from devoting a day of outreach as they moved onto alternate volunteering sites, such as the San Diego Food Bank. For the participating students, such an event could not be missed.
“”I just think that it is really rewarding,”” said Eleanor Roosevelt College sophomore Ivette Hermann, who participated in the UCSD-held scavenger hunt for disadvantaged kids. “”I think it’s really important to step outside yourself and focus on other people. It’s just exciting to see your effect on someone else when you volunteer.””
Vince Pascual, an Earl Warren College freshman, commented on his and his friends’ obligation to go out to projects for volunteer work.
“”We’ve been so lazy lately, it just comes to a point when we all need to go out and volunteer,”” Pascual said.
According to Volunteer Connection members, the event took nearly three months in planning. Numerous phone calls were made to accumulate the various agencies and efforts were made to extend their budget and propose T-shirt donations for the volunteers.
Hands on San Diego was first established in 1991, with a purpose to join the UCSD community with other local volunteering services in participating in community projects.
The Passport to Leadership program, which is affiliated with A.S. and the Student Organization of Leadership Opportunities was involved with Hands on San Diego as well.
Before each group set out for their destination, guest speaker Michael Schudson, acting provost for Thurgood Marshall College, noted the importance of each individual’s role in society.
“”Can one moment, or a couple of hours make a difference? Absolutely,”” Schudson said.
