For many Elon University students, it might be tempting to spend Friday afternoons outside. But for those looking for another way to spend their free time, The Kernodle Center offers an indoor option: Getting on the Bus.
The Get on the Bus program began its fourth year Oct. 5 with a trip to the Positive Attitude Youth Center.
"The program was launched to help students explore volunteer opportunities available to them in Alamance County and surrounding areas with transportation provided by the Elon BioBus,” said Elon Volunteers Public Relations director senior Gretchen Cundiff.
Get on the Bus starts at 2:30 p.m. on select Fridays that Get On The Bus is running, including Oct. 26, Nov. 2 and Nov. 9. Students can sign up to volunteer on a first-come, first-serve basis at the registration table outside of McKinnon Hall. The bus leaves outside of Boney Fountation at 3:00 p.m., taking volunteers to different area service agencies.
In addition to the Positive Attitude Youth Center, Get on the Bus also be makes trips to the Burlington Housing Authority, the Boys and Girls Club, and Kopper Top Life Learning Center. The locations, Cundiff said, are chosen based on their need for student volunteers from local community partners”and is also dependent upon (their) facility capacity accommodations.
According to senior Will Brummett, Outreach and Collaboration Intern for the Kernodle Center, Get on the Bus is beneficial for both the local organizations being served and for student volunteers.
“For students it is often a chance to see, sometimes for the first time, the way their service efforts can help the local community and how the local community can enrich their own collegiate experiences,” he said.
Beyond that, Brummett said he believes that Get on the Bus can serve as a catalyst for students doing further service work in the community, noting that students participating for the first time become more motivated to serve again alongside the beautifully diverse citizens of Alamance County. If Get On The Bus does indeed spur students on to do further service, it very well may be setting students for a lifetime, or at least a college career, full of service, according to both Cundiff and Brummett.
As for the benefits that local organizations gain from Get on the Bus, Brummett said in addition to the benefit they derive from the two to three hours of service, there is more to earn.
“Get on the Bus serves as a key channel for our community partnerships, and it shows our community partners we are committed to their mission and to serving that mission with respectful, personable and hard-working Elon students,” said.
The first Get on the Bus event of the year served as an example of the ways in which it can be mutually beneficial. According to senior Rebeka Bischoff, the Leaders in Collaborative Service Coordinator for the Positive Attitude Youth Center who helped to plan Friday’s event, about fifteen student volunteers were there. They were broken up into four different stations: board games, gym games, cupcake decorating, and crafts, which the PAYC students rotated to throughout the afternoon. Overall, she said she believes, the afternoon was a success.
“I think the volunteers enjoyed interacting with the kids,” she says, “and I know the kids had a great time.”