The Fall Volunteer Fair was held in the Reid Campus Center Young Ballroom on Tuesday, Sept. 11, during lunch. Twenty-three local agencies set up tables to present their volunteer opportunities to students; the fair also included sign-up sheets for Service Sunday: held Sept. 16: and applications for the Whitman Mentor Program and Story Time Project.

Lina Menard, coordinator for the Center of Community Service (CCS), was impressed with the amount of interest Whitman students showed in giving time outside campus.

“Many students have specific interests or skills: health care, Spanish or working with children,” said Menard. “It’s exciting to be able to give them this opportunity to use those skills to help the community of Walla Walla.” This is Menard’s first year at the CCS.

Seth Bergeson, the Community Outreach Project intern, both helped plan and attended the Fair.

“We had 139 students come to the Fair, which is less than I wanted to see,” said Bergeson. “The students who were there showed a lot of interest, though, and we handed out a lot of Mentor and Story Time applications.”

Six community agencies were new to the Fair this year: the Daily Market Cooperative, the Downtown Foundation, Girl Scouts, the Sustainable Living Center, the Walla Walla County Waste Management Division and the Walla Walla Native Plant Society.

“The agencies are interested not only in sharing their projects with students but in networking with other community organizations at the Fair,” said Menard.

An important upcoming volunteer event is Make A Difference Day on Oct. 27, which offers several opportunities for students to get involved in community projects. More information can be found at the CCS office in Reid 219.