Morning Sentinel
Colby students show they care
By Morning Sentinel staff Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 04/20/2008

WATERVILLE -- It was an early morning for a 12-year-old on a Saturday, but Ellen Walsh didn't mind as she wheeled a mountain bike around a crowded parking lot.

She and her mother, Laurel MacArthur, arrived at the parking lot at 7:30 a.m., an hour and a half early for the annual bicycle swap in Waterville's South End. By the time the event started, more than 40 people had joined them, many of them children, who, like Ellen, were eager for a chance to get a new or lightly used bicycle.

"I haven't had a bike in years," Ellen said happily. "So I think this is a wonderful program, because I wouldn't have been able to afford one."

Ellen and her mother both said they appreciated the program so much that they plan to assist by volunteering with it next year. A number of area organizations contributed.

By about 11 a.m., about 150 people had arrived.

Faith Evangelical Free Church, the South End Neighborhood Association, Colby College and the Brain Injury Association were among organizations that combined efforts and resources to supply and repair bicycles for people who couldn't afford them.

"We had heard there was a bike theft problem in the area, and we started thinking, well, if they had new bicycles, maybe it would end that problem," Brent Small, a pastor at Faith Evangelical Free Church, said. "I think that for the most part the kids are happy that they are able to trade up from what they have brought."

Colby College students volunteered there and other places throughout the town as part of an annual Colby Cares initiative. At the Maine Childrens Home for Little Wanderers, more than a dozen students pulled on gardening gloves, grabbed rakes and worked to clear the large yard in front of the facility on Silver Street.

Cristen Sawyer, the volunteer coordinator for the Childrens Home, said it was touching to see so many students come out to help.

"Obviously, being a non-profit, we depend heavily on volunteers to get things done, so it's always good when they come forward," Sawyer said.

The college did not provide any incentive to get the students out and working in the community on Saturday other than to provide them with free T-shirts, according to Colby student Suzanne Merkelson.

Colby Cares Day "is a nice way to get involved," Merkelson said. "We're busy throughout much of the year, so it's nice to have a day when we can come out. And the weather is great."

After a long, cold winter that set records for snowfall accumulation, temperatures pushed toward the 70 degree mark, humidity stayed low and a slight breeze swept the city for most of the day Saturday. Event coordinator and Colby student Celia Boren estimated that between 150 and 200 students came out to do volunteer work at various locations, including the Childrens Home, Castonguay Square and the Waterville Fire Department.

"It's great to be outside," another Colby student, Emily Parker, said at the Childrens Home.

"It's something to do, other than be inside the library all day," she added.

Joel Elliott -- 861-9252

jelliott@centralmaine.com

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