Students are getting involved in a new community service program designed to help senior citizens in the neighborhood with housework and errands.
“We have the opportunity to touch lives,” said Jeff Marootian, Student Association vice president for community affairs and head of United Foggy Bottom.
“While there are many wealthy senior citizens in the area, some senior citizens in this area are living from Social Security check to Social Security check,” Marootian said. “They can’t afford to hire people to help them with the things they need help with.”
SA President Carrie Potter said she feels GW students have the ability to provide senior citizens with the help they need.
“We have a lot of resources, among them time and energy,” Potter said. “We have a lot of things in the immediate Foggy Bottom area that we can help out with and that’s something we’re really trying to target.”
United Foggy Bottom was created last summer, but Marootian said the program was an idea he had mulled over for some time. He said his involvement with community service inspired him to start the program.
“(Community service) has been the most enriching experience I have ever had in my life,” Marootian said. “I want to offer that opportunity to others.”
In formulating the initiative, Marootian said he was inspired by GW’s community service office and the Neighbors Project. He said United Foggy Bottom complements GW’s other community service initiatives.
Marootian said the program is in “full force” with a database of about 20 senior citizens compiled by members of the SA and freshmen recruited from Community Building Community, an orientation program for incoming GW students interested in community service.
Marootian said he feels the program affects the lives of senior citizens and the students who help them.
“Community service involvement is one of the most remarkable experiences a person can ever have,” Marootian said. “In the process, an individual has the opportunity to touch another life and in return, truly touch his own.”
Marootian and other volunteers involved with the program said the opportunity to build a relationship with a Foggy Bottom resident is one of the biggest benefits of getting involved.
Olga Corey, a member of the Foggy Bottom Association’s board of directors, agreed that an important aspect of the program is building relationships.
“I think there’s a very tangible need to be filled and some very intangible needs as well,” Corey said. “(The program) is about reaching out to others.”
Potter said she encourages students to contact the SA and get involved with the program.
“Any student who wants to get involved and work on a relationship with a community member and really give of themselves, we’d love to have help out,” Potter said.
Marootian said while the program was not created to bridge relations between the University and the community, he does see that as a potential benefit. The main goal of the program is to help members of the community as well as students.
Senior citizens involved with United Foggy Bottom said the program has accomplished many of its goals.
