By Barbara Ortutay
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The Community Service Commission wants UCLA students to step
outside their comfort zones and reach out to others.
Hosting its annual Community Service Fair today in Westwood
Plaza, CSC members hope students will take time out to volunteer in
the more than 20 student-run projects the commission has to
offer.
“You’re always going to be busy in life,” said
Angie Cho, internal assistant commissioner. “It really
depends on what you prioritize.”
CSC is the largest student-initiated and student-run community
service organization on any college campus, Cho said. The
commission is the umbrella organization for 22 volunteer projects
staffed by 2,000 to 3,000 students each year, according to
CSC’s Web site.
From tutoring incarcerated youth to mentoring homeless children,
CSC offers an array of volunteer projects in and around the Los
Angeles area.
Project WILD, for example, provides English tutoring for
immigrant middle school students. Amigos de UCLA, CSC’s
longest-running tutorial project, targets predominantly Latino
schools and integrates art with learning.
Other projects include mentoring students in Koreatown, Watts
and low-income housing projects such as Casa Heiwa in Little
Tokyo.
Volunteers in the Hunger Project deliver food, assist in job
searches and deliver clothing and furniture to homeless and
low-income people.
Fannie Huang, Undergraduate Students Association Council
community service commissioner, volunteers in Project BRITE, which
mentors and tutors youth offenders.
“It’s hard for at-risk youth to get help and get
into college,” she said. “They don’t have the 13
AP courses, the extra $1,000 to take an SAT prep course.”
Huang said deciding to volunteer is a big step students can take
which will benefit them in the end.
“Many people grow up sheltered and don’t realize the
hardships out there,” she said. “Not everyone is
privileged, not everyone has the advantages.”
Huang said students should volunteer in projects they enjoy and
not just to fulfill requirements or enhance their resumes.
“Do something you’re good at,” she said.
“Kids aren’t stupid, they want to know you are there
for them and want to be there for them every single day.”
The fair, which also hosts projects from the Community
Programming Office ““ another community service organization
on campus ““ will take place in Westwood Plaza from 10 a.m. to
2 p.m.