Service

Service Hallmark Essay 2000-2001

Alpha Rho Epsilon embraced the International Service Project, America's Promise, with a desire to improve the lives of the children and young people in our area. In addition to service to the community as a whole, we initiated and participated in activities that were in line with the five promises of the program. The chapter members created ongoing relationships with local children, participated in activities that provide safe places for young people, introduced healthy eating habits to encourage a healthy start, taught marketable skills, and established ways the children could be helpful to their communities.

In order to keep the first of America's Promises, to provide the children with an ongoing relationship with a caring adult, Alpha Rho Epsilon initiated a local tutoring program. The chapter formed an alliance with several local elementary schools. Chapter members tutored at the area schools and provided the children with a positive adult role model. Through our tutoring program, we assisted children and young people with their schoolwork and encouraged them to strive to meet increasingly higher goals.

The chapter also assisted area organizations in their programs to provide children with positive, adult role models. Alpha Rho Epsilon worked at the YES Mentor program and Science School 2000 to teach and connect with the children. The YES Mentor program is an annual youth science summer camp that Columbus State Community College hosts. Science School 2000 is a program at COSI, the Center for Science and Industry, in which the chapter members, paired with a group of students, acted as science leaders and encouraged learning. While both programs were for a limited time, the relationship between the chapter members and the young people stayed alive through the exchange of cards and letters of encouragement.

In keeping the second promise, to provide children with a safe place with after-school activities, Alpha Rho Epsilon worked with area after school programs and our own tutoring program to encourage fun learning. Chapter members joined the Ohio Hunger Task Force in programs at two local after school centers. Members also initiated relationships with groups such as 4H and Alkebulan, a local African-American youth center, to work with the children in after school and weekend programs.

Additionally, for this second promise, we assisted area programs that provided the protection and security that children need, especially when there is a troubled home life or there is no home at all. Alpha Rho Epsilon has an ongoing relationship with Faith Mission, a local homeless shelter. The chapter members collected clothing and toiletry items for the children and adults in the shelter. The chapter also distributed clothing and toiletries to homeless and/or needy families during the Ohio National Guard's Stand Down event. Members worked with Safe House Ohio, a program that assists residents in discarding household hazardous wastes and thereby, making the house a safer place for children to live. Alpha Rho Epsilon also works with the Ohio Youth Advocate Program (OYAP) to provide holiday gifts for area foster children.

The chapter's work on promise three, to nurture and provide a healthy start, not only introduced the importance of nutrition to the children, but also taught the members many things. Working with the Ohio Hunger Task Force, members taught children the importance of healthy eating and good nutrition. The children and the members learned helpful facts, such as the fact that soy flour provides more protein and nutrients than wheat flour.

Alpha Rho Epsilon also wanted to nurture children's hearts and souls in order to provide them with a healthy start in life. The chapter did this through its work with the Aunt Mary's Story Book program. We believe that the most important element children need to have a healthy start in life is a connection to their parents. Aunt Mary's Story Book is a program that encourages and strengthens the connection between incarcerated parents and their children. Alpha Rho Epsilon provided the program with new storybooks, tapes, and cassette recorders that the parents used to record their reading of the book. The books and tapes are then sent to the children. This program provides a healthy start for the children by encouraging the connection with their parents and strengthening the youths' reading abilities.

Alpha Rho Epsilon kept the promise of preparing the children by providing them the knowledge necessary to succeed in life. We worked with area youth agencies to teach the children how to make bread to provide for their families. This activity taught the children the importance of following instructions and provided them with responsibilities that encouraged teamwork and a good work ethic. Additionally, the chapter worked at the Latino Festival and the Heritage Festival. These festivals introduced children to diversity in the community so they will be prepared for the diversities in their future. Our tutoring program and work with area mentoring and educational programs also helped prepare the children for the future.

The chapter kept the final promise, to help the children give back to, or serve their community, in several different ways. We believe that by making the young people more intelligent people they become better servants to the community. In addition to our work to improve their minds and rid them of their ignorance of other cultures, we taught the children skills that they could take home and into their communities to better their families lives and the lives of others. Members volunteer at after school and weekend programs to assist older children in helping and teaching younger children. With 4-H, the chapter assisted area children in two service projects. During the first program, Keep Ohio Beautiful Day, Alpha Rho Epsilon assisted 17 children in participating in a community clean-up event. For the second program, a toy drive, the chapter assisted 27 children in gathering and distributing toys to children with cancer at Children's hospital.

Finally, in addition to our work to keep the promises of America's Promise, we served to better our campus community and the community outside our campus. Members of the chapter served on College Council, the Sexual Harassment Board, and the Student Conduct Hearing Committee, to make the campus community better. The chapter also provided volunteers for Columbus State Community College's largest fundraiser, Taste the Future. Our work with Taste the Future allowed the chapter to assist the college to raise money for scholarships and educational programs for the students and community.

Alpha Rho Epsilon served the local community in many different ways. As well as many other chapters, Alpha Rho Epsilon collected pop tabs for Ronald McDonald House Charities. The chapter also provided volunteers for area conferences, such as the Wings Conference for Women and the All-Ohio Academic Team Luncheon. Members volunteered in their local communities in various ways, from assisting 4-H members in projects to teaching arts and crafts to children at day-care centers and from providing food and spiritual teachings to shut-ins to tutoring adults in basic reading and math skills.