Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Monday, August 22, 2011

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College students played with youngsters at Picadome Elementary during UK FUSION.

Several schools welcomed a helping hand from University of Kentucky students who fanned out across town for UK FUSION, a one-day community service blitz.

While the bulk of their work was landscaping, painting and other outdoor chores, the school sites included interaction with youngsters and FCPS staff.

“We really enjoy having them, and they work well with our students,” said Betty Ann Scott, a kindergarten teacher at Picadome Elementary.

Monday was the ninth annual FUSION – “For Unity And Service In Our Neighborhood” – which enables the college students to start the fall on a positive note by serving three hours at a nonprofit agency or area neighborhood site.

“I volunteer back at home and thought it would be good to continue it,” said freshman Sam Lape of Cincinnati, an equine management major who pitched in weekly at a therapeutic riding barn. “Plus, it helps you learn the community and meet new people, and it’s just nice to help out.”

She spent the afternoon at Picadome, coaxing live crabs in the science lab, making name tags for a bulletin board and sitting in on the kids’ reading circle.

Around the building, nearly a dozen fellow UK students paired up for classroom or office duty.

“We can always find something for them to do,” said first-year principal Jennifer Hutchison, who had prepared her staff for the influx of able bodies. “Fayette County schools is such a large entity and so is UK, and the proximity lends itself to a great partnership,” she noted.

FUSION volunteers are predominately freshmen, but the event is open to all UK students, faculty and staff. Not only do they form new friendships, they also gain an appreciation for service learning.

“It’s a way for freshmen to get involved in a positive way,” said Felito Aldarondo, associate director of the university’s counseling center. “And with 1,500 people going out there, a lot can be done.”

He accompanied the group working at the Child Care Council office off Newtown Pike. Their goal was to stuff 500 bags for the “Delivery to Diploma” program, a broad-based community initiative that aims to ensure all families receive resources to support their children’s development and education from Day 1.

“Delivery to Diploma” needs about 8,000 red canvas gift bags each year for newborns in local hospitals. Ordinarily, coordinator Whitney Stevenson spends hours each month putting them together, so she was thrilled to have a stable of UK volunteers form a cheerful and efficient assembly line.

“Everybody’s stayed engaged,” said Stevenson, early childhood gap intervention specialist for Fayette County Public Schools.

Dozens of other college students also stepped up across the school district – to read to children at Veterans Park, relieve custodians at Yates, organize textbooks at James Lane Allen, garden at Ashland and clean up the Tates Creek campus. Teams also worked at Harrison, Lansdowne and Beaumont.

“It’s a good way to be a better role model,” said UK senior Ashley Williamson, chair of FUSION’s agency and neighborhood involvement committee. “A lot of people think college students don’t get out and help the community, so it’s a chance for us to show we do.”