Students who find themselves filled with the holiday spirit and a few extra hours may find volunteering to be the perfect way to give back.

Ames has dozens of opportunities for volunteers this season – all one needs to do is apply.

Y-pals, a program organized by the Ames-ISU YMCA, pairs ISU students with at-risk youth, such as those exhibiting truancy, those from a single-parent family or those with few friends, said Shawn Hollenkamp, director of the ISU chapter of Y-pals.

About 30 ISU students participate in the program each semester, he said.

“The volunteer becomes a role model or mentor for them,” said Hollenkamp, senior in child and family services.

Y-pals volunteers go to recess with the kids, help them with their homework and play games with them, he said.

“The thing that’s nice is that every break for school, the students also get a break from mentoring too,” Hollenkamp said. “The hours drop off a little at the middle to the end of the semester for midterms, finals, etc.”

Students put in whatever time they can during the week, and they do things with the child, depending on the child’s needs, he said.

“Two hours a week can seriously change the life of a child,” Hollenkamp said.

“A strong bond begins to develop that can go past the original relationship. It means the world to these kids.”

Phil Greco, junior in mechanical engineering, has volunteered for the Y-Pals program since last year.

“I volunteered two hours a week,” he said. “I went to recess, played recreational games like checkers or cards and worked on math and reading homework.”

The experience helped him and the children he worked with to grow, Greco said.

“I can’t say enough about the program – it’s really an excellent experience,” he said. “It’s an excellent opportunity to learn something about today’s youth and young people in general, to see how they operate and think and to see your actions affect other people’s lives. Over time, you begin to see that you are making a difference in [the children], and they are making a difference in you.”

To become a Y-pals mentor, contact Shawn Hollenkamp at 294-1432 or [email protected].

Another way to help out the Ames community is to volunteer at the Boys and Girls Club.

“[The Boys and Girls Club] is for boys and girls between the ages of 7 and 18, to provide a safe and protected environment in which they can have fun and grow,” said Ron Chieves, program director for the Boys and Girls Club of Ames.

“There’s a vast amount of volunteer opportunities, such as one-on-one mentoring, coaching and supervision of our members when they are here,” he said. “We have a variety of special events, teen parties and coaching. Students in specialized areas of study can help, also.”

Chieves said students can tailor their volunteering to their interests.

“Science majors can come and teach science, and art majors can come and teach arts and crafts,” he said.

“Basically, anything that would help the volunteer as much as it would help the member we would try to do. Anyone should come in when they have time to give to the children of the community, and give their time up freely and make a difference in some little person’s life.”

The Boys and Girls Club usually has more than 100 students volunteering during the school year, but its numbers decline over Thanksgiving, winter and summer breaks, he said.

“We count a lot on volunteerism from Iowa State,” Chieves said.

Kim Smith, senior in elementary education, volunteered for the Boys and Girls Club last semester.

“I helped teach algebra to the kids, and we just worked together for a half hour to 45 minutes every other Monday,” she said.

“It’s very rewarding, and it’s fun to see that the kids want to learn.”

The Boys and Girls Club can be contacted at 233-1872.

Several organizations, both on campus and in the community, connect volunteers with organizations or special projects that need people.

The ISU Volunteer Center is a liaison between volunteer organizations and volunteers in the Ames community, said Laura Anderson, Volunteer Center president.

“We are in the process of becoming more computer based, hosting a database where organizations can post opportunities for volunteers on the Internet, and volunteers can find those opportunities more easily,” said Anderson, senior in management.

Currently, the organization has about 10 members. It is developing ties with Habitat for Humanity, Big Brother/Big Sister and other local community development projects. To contact the Volunteer Center, call 294-1023, or visit its Web site at www.stuorg.iastate.edu/volunteers.

The United Way of Story County is another organization that places volunteers with organizations that express a need for people power.

“We have an annual donations campaign starting on Sept. 1, and ending on Nov. 15, but we do fund raising year-round too,” said Frankee Oleson, executive director of the Story County United Way. Students can help out with this campaign and work at the United Way stuffing campaign packets, cutting out newspaper clippings and sorting material for filing purposes, she said.

The donations from the campaign support 33 human service agencies, all of which one can contact the United Way to volunteer for, Oleson said.

“There isn’t any kind of time frame or schedule, just as students have time to do it,” she said.

The United Way can be reached at 268-5142.