Winter Term in Service Participants Offered "Guidance and Inspiration to Some Down and Out Kids," Reports CBS Affiliate
February 7, 2006
February 7, 2006, Greencastle, Ind. - 
[Download Video: "DePauw Community Service" - 3072kb] "Making a national television appearance was not the reason why (DePauw junior) Donald (Person, seen at left) and 12 of his fellow classmates and two professors went to California in January," said WISH-TV education reporter Leslie Olsen in a report that aired in the CBS affiliate's 5 p.m. newscast this evening. The story opens with footage of the episode of The Price is Right that was broadcast nationally today, in which Person was a contestant. "The reason why is because every winter, hundreds of students from here at DePauw University are involved in community service projects around the world."
Olsen goes on to detail how a team of 15 students and faculty members from DePauw spent January in a Winter Term in Service working with StandUp for Kids (SUFK), an organization 
that provides support for street, homeless, and at-risk teenagers.
[Download Video: "Prof. Doug Harms" - 1303kb] "We went dumpster diving," Douglas E. Harms, professor of computer science, tells the reporter. He and Valerie Rudolph, coordinator of DePauw's Compton Center for Peace and Justice, led the group and spent evenings with the at-risk teens. "At around midnight, we went through trash cans at a shopping center and (the homeless teens) would pull out food and eat it," Dr. Harms adds.
At the SUFK center, the DePauw volunteers [Download Video: "Reaching Out" - 2394kb] "cooked and cleaned, but more importantly they believe they provided 
some guidance and inspiration to some down and out kids," Olsen explains.
"You never know," sophomore Jeremy Alland says in the TV report. "They're still growing up. Kids can get into college... it's all possible." Junior Erin Weaver adds, "They helped us as much as we helped them -- the awareness that we've all gained about the homeless situation."
The report notes that the students are now committed to doing combating homelessness in their own communities. Olsen concludes by noting the students and faculty volunteers [Download Video: "Conclusion of Report" - 1473kb] "did make their University proud."
Donald Person and his DePauw colleagues took a break from their work to attend a taping of The Price is Right on January 23. Anchor Debby Knox noted that the DePauw group also was on hand for the Los Angeles Lakers game the night that Kobe Bryant scored 81 points. A story is also available on WISH's Web site.
Last month, the efforts of the same DePauw Winter Term in Service team were spotlighted on San Diego NPR affiliate KPBS-FM, which welcomed DePauw senior Danny Shaver and Douglas E. Harms, professor of computer science at the University, to its These Days on program January 16.
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