MEDIA
ALERT
PHOTO/VIDEO/INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Abigail Fota, College Relations Associate
- Media, 610-740-3790
Cedar Crest Nursing Students and Faculty Make a Difference at 7th Annual Community Service Day, More Students Participate This Year Than Ever Before
Allentown, PA (January 20, 2004) - More than 60
students and faculty from Cedar Crest College's
nursing program will volunteer their time and
energy to make a difference in the lives of Lehigh
Valley residents at the 7th Annual Community
Volunteer Day on Wednesday, January 21, 2004.
Members of the Nursing Department will lend a helping hand at seven Lehigh Valley agencies including homeless shelters, soup kitchens and elder care facilities. Students and faculty will assist with meal preparation, cleaning, painting and restocking supplies.
Diane Michaels, a representative from the Allentown Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired will also visit the campus on Tuesday, January 20, 2004 at 11:00 a.m. to teach students the proper techniques for assisting those with visual impairment. "The half-hour workshop will teach volunteers sighted/guide techniques, including how to identify yourself to a blind person, how to offer assistance, how to present your arm and how to approach steps, doors and seats," says Michaels. On Wednesday, students will then escort a group of blind and visually impaired clients on an exercise walk in the Lehigh Valley Mall. "We take our clients out every Wednesday. Without the volunteers, we would not be able to offer programs like this," says Michaels.
Fully accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, Cedar Crest's nursing program provides a solid foundation in nursing practice. Community Volunteer Day underscores the nursing department's commitment to compassion and service to those in need, an important element of the nursing program's philosophy, as well as a standard for the nursing profession in general.
Community Volunteer Day also highlights the College's commitment to incorporating community service into programs of study. It is used as an outside-the-classroom learning experience for students and provides faculty with the opportunity to work with the students on a personal level as they accomplish a goal together. Last year, Cedar Crest students performed over 18,000 hours of community service in the greater Lehigh Valley.
A list of volunteer sites, times and activities
follows. For more information, call Cedar Crest's
nursing department at 610-606-4666, ext. 3322
or the College Relations Office at 610-740-3790.
VIDEO AND PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES AT VOLUNTEER SITES AND INTERVIEWS WITH NURSING STUDENTS AND FACULTY AVAILABLE.*
Volunteer Sites, Times and Volunteer Activities
New Bethany Soup Kitchen
4th and Wyandotte Streets
Bethlehem
9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Preparing and serving a meal, plus clean-up
St. James Zion Church - Soup Kitchen
410 Union Street
Allentown
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Preparing a Noon meal
Turning Point Shelter
Bethlehem
9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Painting, cleaning, organizing and restocking the
shelter
Wellness Center - Towne House Apartments
1827 Walnut Street
Allentown
9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Assisting elderly residents with cooking, cleaning
and shopping
Cedarbrook Nursing Home
350 South Cedarbrook Road
Allentown
9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Therapeutic recreation and socializing with the
residents
Daybreak Transitional Center
6th and Chew Streets
Allentown
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Assisting with clean-up, lunch preparation and
serving and socializing
Allentown Association for the Blind and Visually
Impaired
Tuesday, January 20
Volunteer site is Cedar Crest College, Science
Center Room 139
11:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Students will train in sighted/blind techniques
Wednesday, January 21
Volunteer site is Lehigh Valley Mall, Whitehall
9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Students will assist blind and visually impaired
clients on an exercise walk
*Please call ahead to schedule interviews as some volunteer sites have confidentiality restrictions.
# # # #
Abigail Fota
College Relations Associate - Media
610-740-3790
afota@cedarcrest.edu
