They collect mountains of food and trash bags full of winter coats for the needy, and spent ink cartridges and soda cans to help the environment. They urge everyone they meet to change the world through deliberate acts of kindness. They tutor youngsters who are struggling with reading and raise money and awareness about the plight of children in war-torn countries.

"They" are the hundredsof Pikes Peak area students with a cause.

Sure, some students volunteer to fulfill a community service requirement at their school.

But most are reaching out - to others in their school, neighborhood, town, state and beyond - to make the world a better place.

Research shows that youths who volunteer are more civically engaged as adults, according to a study by The Corporation for National & Community Service. The study also showed that about 68 percent of K-12 schools in the United States offer specific community service opportunities, up from about 64 percent in 1999.

"I realize that the time you most feel like you're actually achieving something is when you're helping other people out," said Christina Price, a Wasson High School senior and head of the school's Service Learning Action Council. "And, it's fun. It brings people closer together."

Price recently helped organize a clothing drive for Ecumenical Social Ministries.Students collected, sorted and delivered about 25 trash bags full of clothing, she said. Now, her group wants to help build a Habitat for Humanity house in the spring.

That sort of caring is common among teens who get involved with community projects, said Gary Butterworth, vice president of programs for the El Pomar Foundation, who worked for about 10 years with the El Pomar Youth in Community Service program.

"I was impressed with the empathy they have toward people struggling in the community," Butterworth said. "They really focused in on local services that provided food, shelter - the necessities."

That's the impetus behind Empty Bowls Night, an event that Woodland Park schools organize every other year to benefit the food pantry serving Teller County. Children at every grade level make ceramic bowls in art classes that are displayed at a community gathering, said Lauren Lehmann, a Gateway Elementary School art teacher who spearheads the effort. For a $10 donation, participants choose a bowl, fill it with soup provided by local restaurants and enjoy a simple community supper. And they get to keep the bowl.

"It's a way to get children of all ages to make a difference with their art," Lehmann said.

Beneficial competition

Providing food for the hungry in the Pikes Peak region has grown into a rivalry among schools participating in Care & Share's annual Harvest of Love campaign, which runs about three weeks in November. Most schools, from elementary to high, participate by staging events and encouraging students to donate to the food pantry.

Last year, Doherty High School won the 2007 Cornucopia Award for collecting the most food and cash donations - the equivalent of nearly 235 tons. Summit Middle School won the Harvest Award for donating the most pounds per student - the equivalent of 708 pounds for each.

Ashley Bonner, a Doherty senior and vice president of the student body, said the competitiveness during the drive has helped increase the giving at many schools.

"This is such a big part of Doherty, but as our sponsor says, it's not just about winning but about helping other people to win, too," she said.

While the activities are fun, they're a lot of work, and student leaders spend hours collecting money outside of stores, running events and cheering on the efforts of others.

Bonner was among 13 students who spent four nights in tents in the school courtyard to deliver the message that others in the community are in need of food and shelter.

"It's hard and we really have to have good time management," she said. "But it's really only three weeks of the (school) year and it's just so important. This year, because of the economy, Care & Share has more needs.

"I have a passion for helping people everywhere, but it hits home when you see it in the community. People right here in our own city are struggling."

At Coronado High School, the Pay It Forward club promotes routine kindness to others, in ways large and small. The foundation that sanctions the club, and others like it nationwide, is a spinoff of the novel and movie by the same name in which a young boy suggests that the recipient of a good deed should then do three good deeds for others to multiply the effect.

Last year the club raised $1,700 to purchase a used car for a single mother with two teenage daughters at the school, said Kyran Kolar, a junior and president of the club. This year, the goal is to raise enough to purchase or repair cars for two families.
"It's something that is doable and can really change someone's life," she said. She noted that last year's recipient got a job within a week.

Kolar said she attended a showing of "Pay It Forward" last year and bought into the concept.

"I wanted to leave a thumbprint on the world that would be positive," she said.

All about the kids

Younger students get equally excited about community service, particularly projects that help children.

This fall, students at Cheyenne Mountain Junior High School collected 160 pairs of new shoes for children in Jamaica, said Beth Gorab, the school's student council sponsor.

Gorab learned about a new charitable organization, Foot Soldiers for Jamaica, through two men she worked with at The Broadmoor Golf Club.

The men, in turn, had learned from seasonal workers at the resort that Jamaican children suffer from infections and diseases that they contract through their feet because they have no shoes.

"The connection is mine, but the kids feel compassion" when they learn about other kids struggling, she said.

Children in other countries are often the focus of fundraising and awareness campaigns among students.

Another popular international cause is Invisible Children, which raises awareness about the recruitment of child soldiers in northern Uganda. A related organization, GuluWalk, formed in 2005 to tell the world about Ugandan children who walked from rural villages to the town of Guluto sleep every night to avoid being abducted by rebels. In October, about 300 students joined a GuluWalk in downtown Colorado Springs.

Alana Nason, a Wasson senior who helped organize the event, said there is growing interest in what has happened to children in northern Uganda because of the two organizations. She's working on a spring event, Displace Me, in which students will sleep outside in boxes and eat the food they would get if they were trying to survive in Uganda.

Nason said she heard about Invisible Children in her sophomore year, and it "changed my outlook." In fact, she's headed to Kampala, Uganda, this summer and intends to major in African studies at the University of Oregon beginning next fall.

"This is the part of Africa I've chosen to devote my life to," she said.

Such passion is evident in many youths who get involved in service projects.

Butterworth, of El Pomar, said teens often take what they learn in high school organizations and continue their efforts in college.

Just finding out how many nonprofits there are and in how many fields - animals, environment, food banks and sports, to name a few - is a real eye-opener for young people, he said. And they learn that they can give of their time as well as their money.

"Anywhere you go, there are organizations that rely on volunteers," he said.
Kolar advises students to consider how much time they have to devote to service projects and what they're interested in to choose the right organization.

"How do you want to help people and what are you able to do and what are you capable of doing?" she said. "Consider how much time you want to spend and what works in your schedule.

"You need to spread as much happiness as you can."

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Contact the Writer: 636-0251 or sue.mcmillin@gazette.com