University of Mississippi Students Help Out at JASA

JASA was recently contacted by a group of college students from the University of Mississippi’s Honors College who, in the midst of planning a service trip to New York City, were looking to volunteer for two days with JASA. The students touched down in the city on December 11th, and on the 12th a group was off to attend the H.E.S. Senior Center holiday party. At the party, the students aided the H.E.S. staff in serving a multiple-course lunch. During their breaks from the kitchen, the students could be found on the dance floor, still clad in their aprons and plastic kitchen gloves. Caitlan Eeidt, the student group leader, said of the event, “It was a real joy to be a part of such a warm and festive event…We dreaded leaving, nor did they want us to!”

The following Monday, the students could be found at two of our other senior centers, one group up in the Bronx at Van Cortlandt Senior Center, and another down in Coney Island at the Luna Park Senior Center. At Van Cortlandt, the students helped with a craft project while socializing with the center’s members, then donned aprons and helped serve up lunch.
    
The Luna Park group spent time sitting with the center members, learning about life in Coney Island and sharing stories about their own hometowns. After serving lunch, the students accompanied center director Adrienne Slomin to Urban Neighborhood Services Inc., a local community organization. For the past weeks, members of the Luna Park Senior Center had been collecting coats to donate to UNS, and the delegation from Luna Park and their donations were well-received. One member of Luna Park, Morris, joined the students on a walk around Coney Island. “On the way, he showed them the home that he grew up in and some of the many Coney Island attractions he enjoyed as a teen, and the new ones that he enjoys now,” said Ms. Slomin.

“While other groups from our Honors College Sophomore Service trip did service projects including picking up litter and sorting books,” said Caitlan Eeidt, “I know that the groups that visited each of the JASA centers had an experience like none other.”