Giving freely: While lots of teens relax, some spend summer volunteering
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Hunter Berk, 16, a junior at Fox Chapel Area High School, has collected piles of SAT books to donate to students who will be studying for the test.
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Emily and Matt Kocian are spending time in the hospital this summer, but they aren't sick.
At least one day each week, the siblings put in several hours of volunteering -- before a lot of teens have even rolled out of bed.
Hunter Berk, 16, hasn't given a lot of thought yet to his college career, but he's already knee-deep in SAT prep books.
He's busy making sure that study aids are available to students whose families might not be able to afford them.
And Chelsea Dickson, 16, is organizing Face the Music, a concert to benefit Family Resources of Pennsylvania, a nonprofit that combats child abuse.
When the school year ends each June, some teens while away the summer at poolside or take part-time jobs to earn spending money. But many find fulfillment in helping others.
Matt, 14, of Reserve, rises about 6 a.m. every Thursday to volunteer as a patient escort at St. Clair Hospital in Mt. Lebanon, where his dad works. Matt's legs are strong from his lawn care business, and that helps as he logs miles a day pushing patients in wheelchairs "wherever they need us to go. I spend the whole day walking," Matt said. By 4:30, "I'm usually tired."
He often walks for two hours or more without rest. His throat gets tired, too, from chatting with the patients, who enjoy seeing young people volunteering.
"They say, 'Oh, we got a young one!' " said Matt, who will be in ninth grade at Shaler Area High School. "Everyone thinks the volunteers are all old guys."
Matt might think his sister, Emily, 16, has it easy. She plays all day. Emily, who will be a junior at Shaler Area, has volunteered for three years in the playrooms at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.
She previously volunteered in outpatient and same-day-surgery playrooms, but this summer she advanced to inpatient playrooms and bedside play, where she entertains children who have longer stays.
"We might play games or video games or do crafts," she said. "I worry about the kids being OK, and I try to make them smile and laugh."
The experience has helped her realize she wants to pursue a career in psychology.
Playing might sound easy compared to pushing wheelchairs for hours on end, but Emily said, "I wouldn't suggest going straight to inpatient playroom" as a first volunteer experience. "It wears you out. These kids are so happy to see someone, they just go, go, go!"
Other teens have developed their own volunteer projects.
Hunter, of O'Hara, was chatting with his mom, who is writing a book about colleges, when an unpleasant fact dawned on him. Not only is the cost of college tuition overwhelming for many students, but even if they find a way to afford college, they first have to be able to afford the Scholastic Aptitude Test and the books used to prepare for it.
Most students use the books once and discard them. Hunter, who will be a junior at Fox Chapel Area High School, started the College Bound Collection, collecting used college prep books to distribute to teens who otherwise could not afford them.
"There are people who hire coaches for their kids for $10,000, and then there are some kids who can't even come close to getting access to stuff like that," Hunter said. "These books can run from $40 to $50. Advanced Placement tests are about $89. The SAT starts at $45 with different fees added on. It adds up after a while."
The concept of charging for educational supplies seemed unjust to Hunter.
"The College Board is a large corporation, and it's hard to get into a college without taking the SAT," he said. "They're not only making money off the tests but their books, too. They're making so much money on something I don't think they should charge for."
With the help of his principals and computer technology teacher at Fox Chapel Area, Hunter contacted students and placed collection boxes at the high school, Lauri Ann West Memorial Library in O'Hara, Adat Shalom synagogue in Cheswick and Café Latte on Saxonburg Boulevard in Indiana Township. He has received hundreds of books. He sorts the donations into AP prep books, SAT prep books, flash cards and unbiased books about colleges. He even recycles college conscientious brochures.
"We'll get the [Fox Chapel Area] high school library fully stocked, and I'm contacting different community and citywide organizations," he said. "We don't want this to be just for Fox Chapel kids; there are so many kids out there who can use this."
He hopes other students will hear about the effort and start similar collections. "I mean, we can't store all these books in my basement," he said, with a laugh.
Chelsea has involved other students in her project.
Say the word "concert" and most teens line up for tickets and T-shirts. Say "concert" to Chelsea, and she lines up 10 of her closest friends and puts them to work.
Chelsea, who will be a junior at Shady Side Academy in the fall, learned about Family Resources from her dad, who has been involved with the organization's fund-raisers.
"In early June, I started brainstorming about what I could do this summer," said Chelsea, of Highland Park. She kicked off her vacation by traveling to Appalachia with a church group to build homes. She also manages her school soccer team while she heals from an injury, and she volunteers regularly with day camps at Carnegie Museum of Art.
"I love concerts and music," she said, so planning a concert seemed like a no-brainer.
"It's a little nerve-racking," she conceded. "It's fun, but a lot more work than I imagined."
She designed the concert logo and has regular meetings with her core group of volunteers, teens who attend Shady Side Academy, Fox Chapel Area High School and Oakland Catholic.
"Some are creating T-shirts for the staff, one is doing media relations, another is contacting sponsors, two are getting Penguins and Steelers jerseys to auction off, some are making signs and putting up posters, and one created a Facebook group," Chelsea said.
The Aug. 28 concert, which will feature the band Crossing Boundaries and opening act Courtney Barker -- all teens from the North Hills -- has consumed Chelsea's summer.
The money from the outdoor concert will go to Family Resources' new campaign, "Be the Difference," which offers suggestions on how observers can respond to parent-children conflict in public settings.
"We've all been in the grocery store where there's an overstressed mom and she loses it with her kids," Chelsea said. " 'Be the Difference' encourages people to say something, to [give positive support to the parent] but also to let them know people are watching."
Rebecca Hebert, director of Individual Giving at Family Resources, loves that teens such as Chelsea care enough to spend their free time volunteering.
"It's a way for them to make a change," Ms. Hebert said.
For more information on Face the Music or to buy advance tickets, visit www.familyresourcesofpa.org. Tickets are $10.
For more information on College Bound Collection, contact Hunter Berk at hdberk@me.com.
First Published August 6, 2009 5:44 am
