Amelia Martinez witnesses kindness every day in the faces of kids and student volunteers at the Mountaineer Boys&Girls Club.

The West Virginia University special education major is one of more than 40 WVU students who work or volunteer at the club, which provides after-school programs and activities for elementary and middle school children in Morgantown and surrounding areas.

A graduate student, Martinez serves as a program coordinator, organizing the prevention program and community service projects such as holiday caroling and a recent fund-raiser for tsunami relief efforts.

Volunteering gives University students a whole different feeling about the people who live in the community,said Boys&Girls Club Director Dennis Poluga.The kids might be just like their brothers or sisters back home.

Whether it is helping children with homework or playing foosball with them, WVU student volunteers are making a difference, he said.

For the past three or four years, WVU s Arnold Hall has thrown a party between Halloween and Christmas, and the womens gymnastics team recently spent a day with the children, Poluga said.

They (WVU students) do a lot of what I call extra things and innovative things to keep our kids engaged in things,he said.And the students get as much enjoyment out of it as the kids do. Weve seen studentsgrades go from a 2.0 to a 4.0, and its mostly because of that relationship with that college student. Truthfully, we could not operate the way we do today without students from the University volunteering here and doing work study.

Kim Colebank, director of WVU s Office of Service Learning Programs, said the spirit of service runs strong among students. She said on average, WVU students log more than 84,200 volunteer hours and 13,000 service-learning hours per semester.

Colebank and her staff coordinate volunteer opportunities through the United Way, The Shack Neighborhood House, Kaleidoscope, Board of Park and Recreation Commissioners of Morgantown and other area nonprofit agencies.

WVU is partnering with the United Way Volunteer Action Center to promote volunteer opportunities during Random Acts of Kindness Week, Feb. 14-20. People interested in volunteering may send an e-mail to the unitedway@teamunitedway.org or call 304-296- 7525.

Additionally, WVU students are encouraged to visit the Office of Service Learning Programs Web site ( http://www.wvu.edu/~oslp/ ) to find out more about service opportunities.

Other ways WVU student organizations are making a difference in the community are listed below:

• The Arnold Air Society participates in Red Cross blood drives, the Ronald McDonald House golf tournament and 5K run, and the Adopt-A-Street program.

• The Sigma Chi Fraternity works with the Childrens Miracle Network.

• The Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity organizes the Run to/from Pitt fund-raiser, benefiting the Autism Society of Pittsburgh; and an annual science carnival for area school children. Members volunteer at The Shack Neighborhood House and Mountaineer Balloon Festival.

• The Association for Women in Science held an Expanding Your Horizons workshop for middle school-aged girls.

• The WVU Block and Bridle Club fixes meals at the Ronald McDonald House, volunteers at Christian Help Inc. and collects items for the Davis College food drive.

• The Fashion Business Association stages a fashion show and open house to benefit Christian Help Inc.

• The Student Government Association collects toys for the Toy Mountain and SHOP (Students Helping Other People) programs. It recently held a collection drive calledOperation Support Our Mountaineersfor U.S. troops in Iraq.

• The Beta Theta Pi Fraternity helps the Mario Lemieux Foundation and participates in the Adopt-A-Street program.

• The Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority prepares dinners for the Ronald McDonald House and Barlett House. Members also assist with Special Olympics andLight the Nightactivities.

• The Sigma Delta Pi Spanish honorary helps coordinate the CHISPA (Campamento Hispano Internacional Siempre Amigos) program, takes children shopping during the holidays and teaches English to community members.

• The Lambda Kappa Sigma pharmacy fraternity prepares dinners for the Rosenbaum Family House and Ronald McDonald House, collects donations for the Leukemia&Lymphoma Society and volunteers at the WVU Childrens Hospital.

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