OMEGA PHI ALPHA SORORITY
* Number of members: 56 * Background: The Sigma chapter of Omega Phi Alpha is a service sorority at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. * Agency: Volunteered at Signal Centers since 2012. * Why they chose it: “We do six projects a year and at least one is always at Signal Centers,” says Cailee O’Shoney, Omega Phi Alpha member. “Also, our sorority’s national permanent project is mental health awareness.” * Their service: Engaging with the adults during various activities, assisting staff with prepping activities, helping with lunch as needed. They also help on special weekend work days and have sent groups on Saturdays to help prepare activities and clean up. According to Signal Centers staff member Megan Grant: “They have consistently served at our holiday parties, most recently Halloween and Valentine’s Day. For Valentine’s’s Day, almost every member of the sorority created handmade valentines to hand out to the adults and baked goodies to share. During our Halloween party, they came in costume to assist with games, trick-or-treating and lunch. Throughout the week, girls from Omega Phi Alpha will come to assist with daily activities, engage the adults in games and art activities and assist staff. One specific member offered her services as a photographer for us to take glamour shots, one of our favorite things. Sania Kahn did an amazing job making each individual feel beautiful and confident in front of the camera.” * Uniqueness of service: “It’s always a group service project, but we’ve been lucky enough to receive some individual volunteers because they started with the sorority. Omega Phi Alpha has increased our participants’ self-esteem. They’ve become part of our Adult Center family because of the extreme kindness and compassion they continue to show each time they serve with us. Attendees of the Adult Center feel as if they are their personal friends and look forward to visits and interactions. This spirit of inclusion makes a lasting impression on both ends.”
KRISTEN EDGEWORTH
* Age: 16 * Background: Junior at Center for Creative Arts * Agency: Volunteer for Signal Centers during school holidays and summers since 2013 * Why she chose it: “My brother went to Signal Centers’ children’s program.” * Her service: Assists the adult program with daily activities and living skills, including adapted sports, art activities and games. She is responsible for modeling appropriate social relationships, encouraging and socializing with participants and assisting staff as needed. She was recognized, in particular, for large-scale, themed events for the adult program she plans, such as last summer’s two-day Harry Potter event. She is already preparing a scrapbooking event for this summer. According to Signal Centers staff member Megan Grant: “She coordinated with staff over several weeks to prepare activities (for the Harry Potter party), bringing in additional materials, creating wands before the parties so on the event day they could come in and have a wand choose them. She took the time to individually sort each participant into magical houses, which included knowing each participant’s personality. She came in early on both days to set up the activities and decorate. The participants had a fantastic time making robes, being sorted, playing Quidditch.” * Uniqueness of service: “Kristen is unique in that she does not need these hours for school or credit and she comes in of her own dedication to this program and these adults. She is extremely creative and enjoys trying new things with our participants … she encourages them to socialize and engage in activities,” says Grant.
You don’t always find them in the cool, high-profile jobs like the divers who jump into the Tennessee Aquarium’s glass tanks to feed fish.
They might be behind-the-scenes in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, quietly cuddling infants at T.C. Thompson Children’s Hospital at Erlanger or across Central Avenue from the hospital, cooking dinner for families who live at the Ronald McDonald House while their seriously ill children are being treated.
They might be high school students patiently helping other teens with homework at Northside Neighborhood House or adults providing emergency assistance to victims of natural disasters.