Student leadership will attempt new heights of community interaction with the prospect of volunteer work at Sunrise Assisted Living. Twice a week, leadership students will sign up to visit the Cedar and Alluvial location (behind the new gym) to spend their time with the elderly.

“Our goal is too reach people out side the shelter of our school,” leadership adviser Chris Schultz said. “Volunteer work at Sunrise Assisted Living gives us a very opportune chance to make some mark on our community.”

Tuesdays and Thursdays of each week, seven students (a different seven each time) will volunteer 45 minutes of talking, reading, game-playing or just plain hanging out. Every leadership member will eventually do this several times, since they will be performing the service until May.

Twice already, senior leadership member Casey Belmont has taken the pleasure of tending to this outreach project. “I enjoy going, so in the future I plan on volunteering as often as possible,” Belmont, said. “Today I played checkers with a man named Lou who was at one time an engineer on the Panama Canal.”

Leadership volunteers claimed in general that the environment felt very relaxed.

“I have gone once so far,” Samantha Kimball, ’02, said. “The lady that I talked to had no relatives, and I could tell that she, along with the other residents, enjoyed our visit and very much looked forward to our return.”

At the present time, student leadership members are the only people participating. “We may, however, be able to include other students in the future,” Shultz said.