THE NEW VOLUNTEERS

By TIMOTHY RENSHAW

Volunteering has
changed. Or at least the
image has changed.
Today, many young
people, eager to learn
new skills and simply
wanting to help others,
are discovering the
satisfaction of being a
volunteer.

At North Shore Bowl, 141
West Third Street, between
4:00 and 5:30 p.m. Friday

afternoons, a group of
Carson Graham _ students
contribute their time- to

bring a weekly highlight into
the lives of mentally han-
dicapped adults.

Each student is in charge
of a bowling team, consisting
of four or five handicapped
members. The students
manage their teams as would

any coach, yelling en-
couragement, pantomiming
(though just as often

themselves shown a. slick
move or two) the finer points
of style, and keeping score.

Out of the excited chaos
they instill a necessary order
into the proceedings.

Though part of a school
assignment in community
recreation, the decision to
work with mentally han-
dicapped people was enurely
theirs.

The task is not an casy
one. Like any new un-
dertaking worth doing and
doing well, it takes patience
and commitment. It is to
their credit that many of the
students plan to stay on past
the mandatory tnvestment of

hours required by the
project, continuing to help
make Fnday afternoons a

delightful event for this mob
of bowling enthusiasts.

Why, one may wonder,
would anyone, for no
financial reward, sacrifice
their time to “work, when
they might be, with far less
effort, contemplating the
brilliance that is television or
squinting into the nether

regions of their
refrigerators.

Michelle, a grade twelve
student from Carson

Graham, busily manning the
“Champs” score. sheet,
explains it this way:

“It’s something I'd rather
do than say, babysitting.
You meet people who are
mentally handicapped, get
involved with them, un-
derstand their everyday
problems and what happens
in their lives. Besides it’s
fun!”

Strolling amidst the teams
of effervescent bowlers,
offering words of en-
couragement and casting his
opinions, with calm
authority, on the sometimes
stormy seas of team member
discussion, is Ken Knight.
For seven years his North
Shore Bowl has been home
to this bowling league.

Without his kindness, the
“Tigers’', “Champs”,
“Ballbusters”, “Leos”, and
“Hot Stuff” would not have a
place to bowl. And without a
place to bowl the many
promising bowlers on these
teams, who work hard to
sharpen their skills and
improve their scores would
have an important part of
their lives stifled.

“IT don't do anything
really,” says Ken with
genuine modesty, “it’s the

students. This whole
would be a
situation

thing
hopeless
without = these

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Much more than a school project

KEEPING SCORE FOR the handicapped bowlers is just one of the tasks that keeps Dave Carter busy at the bowling
alleys acting as a volunteer. Dave is a student at Carson Graham in North Vancouver. (Terry Peters photo)

volunteers. They do a
wonderful job, just great.”
The experience of
working with mentally
handicapped people, wit-
nessing their growth in
character and responsiblility
as they participate in the
adult world, has convinced
Michelle to continue doing
volunteer work. The
possiblity of pursuing similar
work as a career has
suggested itself to her

Watching the high spirits,
hearing the bubbling ex-
citement of the bowlers, and
feeling the satisfaction of
people helping people, 1s all
you need really witness to
know why.

Students interested in
volunteering should call the
Volunteer Action Centre at
985-7138.

Iimothy Renshaw is a

student volunteer on the

North Shore

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