Eager To Help Evhs Students, In Connection With The Sheriff’s Community Oriented Policing Effort, Volunteer With Tasks Valley Elderly Can’t Do On Their Own

Dorothy Shinn’s grey poodle, Dutchess, was her constant companion.

When Dutchess died three months ago, Shinn, 81, was devastated. She wanted to move the furniture in her home, thinking new decor would take her mind off her pet, but she couldn’t budge the heavy couch and bed alone.

Jon Hildahl and Seth Campbell, two East Valley High School seniors, moved it all in 15 minutes.

Campbell, a husky, wise-cracking 18-year-old baseball player, said he was happy to help Shinn because she “seemed really depressed.”

Campbell and Hildahl are part of a new 32-person EVHS student volunteer group. The group was set up in October by the Spokane County Sheriff’s Department and Lynn Lauer, a Spokane Falls Community College student doing a project for her associate’s degree in gerontology, the study of aging.

Lauer hopes needy and elderly people all over the Valley will call on the students to help.

“They were careful, fine young men,” said Shinn after the teens moved her furniture. “It’s a pleasure to know we have some good young people out there. We hear so much of the bad, don’t we?”

School counselors initially put the offer out to 20 students, thinking 10 would be interested. All 20 joined. Now the group has grown to 32.

Lauer directs an hour-long seminar at the school Volunteers,

“I thought it would be kind of neat,” said Mandee Middleton, 17, a senior. “Somebody needs help and you’re there to help them.” She and four others, including Ricky Petrasso, a 17-year-old junior, have been helping out at Good Samaritan Nursing Home, E17121 Eighth.

“Something there just pulled me there,” Petrasso said. “I wanted to find a new respect for the elderly.”

At Good Samaritan, some of the students have worked with Mackey Brown, 87, who’s writing the second addition of his book of short stories, compiled during his 75-year career as a traveling salesman.

Since his stroke, Brown has had trouble writing. “I’ve got a thousand stories,” he said, his speech slightly slurred, but his blue eyes twinkling. “If I can get somebody to dictate to.”

The students offered to be his hands.

“They seemed anxious to help,” Brown said. “They’ve been a big help to me.”

When the Spokane Valley Center of Sharing had its annual Christmas drive, Lauer’s group held bake sales and raised $200. They took the money and went shopping for stocking stuffers to donate to needy children.

“I think it’s wonderful to get kids involved and make them feel useful,” said Karen Peterson, activities coordinator at Good Samaritan. “The residents enjoy the children and enjoy talking to them.”

The students identify themselves as a SCOPE (Sheriff’s Community Oriented Policing Effort) youth group. When the group was being formed by school counselors, Lauer asked that every area in the East Valley district be represented by at least one student.

“I didn’t want just the jocks or just the 4-point students,” she said.

Kristi McPherson was motivated to join partly because her own grandmother died before she had a chance to spend time with her. McPherson sees it as an opportunity to get to know other elderly people, she said.

All the students must clear criminal background checks conducted by the sheriff’s department before they can be assigned a volunteer project.

In the weekly class sessions, Lauer impresses the value of volunteering upon the students. She’s traveled to Colville and Freeman high schools to talk to counselors about those schools’ public service programs.

At Colville, about half the 750-person student body volunteers. About 20 percent put in the 50 hours of volunteer service required for special recognition at graduation, said Patti Anderson, counseling coordinator at Colville.

A public service program is an idea that’s been tossed around at EVHS, said Principal Jeff Miller. But, he said, it would require budgeting for another full-time staff member to coordinate the program.

Community service is looked at by scholarship committees and college admissions boards, Miller said. And, “it doesn’t hurt our relationship at all with parts of the community that are totally uninvolved with the school.”

Students find ways to volunteer now, Miller said, but it’s mostly through outside agencies.

Colville’s program has been mutually beneficial for the community and the students, Lauer said. One student who worked at the humane society is now a veterinary student at Washington State University. Another WSU student had a required class waived because of his community service, Lauer said.

“I feel good about it,” she said. “I don’t know what else to say. I believe so much in youth.”

MEMO: This is a siedbar that appeared with the story: Do you need help? Students in Lynn Lauer’s group at East Valley High School have cleaned houses, moved furniture, read to the elderly and done other projects. Lauer would like to hear from people who need help, whether the project will take weeks, hours, or minutes. The offer is extended to any needy Valley resident, especially the elderly. For more information, call Lauer at 924-8502.ql