City Year looking for volunteers

By Cory Anotado
Collegian Staff
February 7, 2007

After college, many graduates find themselves in a dilemma: should they enter the job field they just spent four years studying, should they start at their local McBurger place before finding something bigger or should they mooch off their parents until a job falls in their lap?

For some, however, there is an amazing opportunity for those graduates who are more volunteer-minded.

City Year is a volunteer organization that has a simple objective for its volunteers: dedicate one full year of your life to serving your community and your country.

Currently, City Year has branches in 16 different cities in the United States and a branch in South Africa. The 1,200 City Year volunteers will collectively serve more than 1.4 million hours mentoring and tutoring school children, organizing after-school programs and planning physical service projects, among other things.

One La Salle alum, Ali Eaton ’04, considered her time with City Year to be a life-changing experience.

“It changed my life path,” she said. “I originally wanted to be a journalist or work in publications. Now I teach 10th grade at a charter school in Kensington, and I am going to graduate school to be a teacher. [It also] opened my eyes to the true beauty of Philadelphia.”

In addition to these things, City Year also trained Eaton on how to work well with a team and plan large-scale events better than an educational setting ever could.

With this in mind, it should be noted that City Year is not for everyone. The jobs are extremely stressful, there’s a small living stipend and 45 or more hours of work per week. However, according to Eaton, the payoff is incredible.

“You’re teaching kids to read, helping a high schooler serve his/her community, cleaning up some of Philadelphia’s most forgotten neighborhoods, and bonding with people you never thought you’d meet or like,” Eaton said. “It’s an amazing feeling.”

Another perk is that after completing the year of service, City Year volunteers earn an education award that they can put toward further education or paying off student loans.

Currently, City Year Philadelphia is looking for volunteers who have graduated high school. To learn more about the City Year program or to sign up for the program, visit the Web site at www.whyiserve.com or call 215-988-2081.

anotadoc1@lasalle.edu