AUBURN - With fingers clutching paintbrushes and pencils, a bunch of high school students left their mark on a room that will be filled with the laughter and energy of children.
Jill Connor / The Citizen
Cali DeLand, 17, of Aurelius, and a student at Union Springs, works on a drawing for the mural on the walls of Calvary Food Pantry as part of a service project with Partnership for Results on Wednesday.
Cali DeLand, 17, of Aurelius, and a student at Union Springs, works on a drawing for the mural on the walls of Calvary Food Pantry as part of a service project with Partnership for Results on Wednesday.
About a half dozen teenagers took lessons about community service and the importance of giving back, to be instilled in them during their schooling and applied to the real world. They spent the last several weeks giving children who may come to Calvary Food Pantry CNY Inc. a fun place to stretch their legs and have a good time.
Applying swirls of paint to pastel green walls, participants of Partnership for Results' Youth Service Learning Project spent the last two months painting a mural at the food pantry's space in the basement of the Calvary Presbyterian Church building, 90 Franklin St., Auburn.
Shaniece Townes, 17, of Auburn, spent a couple days last week painting angels onto a slab of wall, a connection she made with the pantry being located in the basement of a church, a space also shared with Unity House.
The human services agency provides transitional and permanent housing, rehabilitative and employment services and programs to people who have developmental disabilities and mental health illnesses, and those recovering from chemical dependencies..
“It makes me feel good,” Townes said of the community service, “because they will get to see my artwork and hopefully it will lift their spirits.”
Program director Lisa Davis said the mural project aims at both helping those less fortunate as well as developing among participants a sense of community engagement.
These are themes Davis is very familiar with, striving to improve the nation through community service in her capacity as an AmeriCorps Vista through the Western New York AmeriCorps office.
Working within Partnerships for Results, a quasi-governmental agency dedicated to promoting the positive social, emotional and educational development of youth and their families, Davis combined both organizations' missions to create the Youth Service Learning Project. This project endeavors to create positive connections between teenagers and the world around them by exposing them to various service careers by way of job shadowing, as well as through community service.
“Community development is really important,” Davis said, “and the original goal was to strengthen the relationships between adults and youth. (Partnership for Results) was concerned about young people not having anything to do, so they thought if they brought in a Vista, that person could reach youth.”
Davis began thinking of service projects students could perform for the community. Familiar with the Calvary Food Pantry and its pale pink-colored walls, Davis approached pantry coordinator Nancy Sheffield and asked if she and her students could give the basement a face-lift. Sheffield was more than excited about the prospect of a revitalized space.
Using donated paints from the food pantry and Partnership for Results, students repainted the entire basement space pastel green with the individualized mural painted on five panels across one segment of the wall.
Eat Well Play Hard donated some athletic mats for children to use, and to recognize that, Chris Porten, 16, of Auburn, painted a panel in the organization's honor. Porten, who someday wants to become a graphic designer, used the service project as an opportunity to augment his resume and portfolio.
To further the theme of Eat Well Play Hard and early childhood development, participants Cali DeLand and her sister Mandy, as well as Townes, planned on adding to the mural shapes and healthy foods to promote good nutrition.
Dillon Davis-Tirado, 14, of Auburn, and Lisa Davis' son, decided to join the Youth Service Learning Project to help him achieve his required hours of community service through Tyburn Academy of Mary Immaculate. He looks at the mural project as a way to give children a positive outlook on life - that they are capable of anything.
And while Nikkia Borowski, 16, of Auburn, has no artistic skills, she is more than willing to pitch in a helping hand with the paint roller if it means children can enjoy the space.
“As long as their parents have to come in here,” she said, “why not have it be a place they want to go to.”
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
Applying swirls of paint to pastel green walls, participants of Partnership for Results' Youth Service Learning Project spent the last two months painting a mural at the food pantry's space in the basement of the Calvary Presbyterian Church building, 90 Franklin St., Auburn.
Shaniece Townes, 17, of Auburn, spent a couple days last week painting angels onto a slab of wall, a connection she made with the pantry being located in the basement of a church, a space also shared with Unity House.
The human services agency provides transitional and permanent housing, rehabilitative and employment services and programs to people who have developmental disabilities and mental health illnesses, and those recovering from chemical dependencies..
“It makes me feel good,” Townes said of the community service, “because they will get to see my artwork and hopefully it will lift their spirits.”
Program director Lisa Davis said the mural project aims at both helping those less fortunate as well as developing among participants a sense of community engagement.
These are themes Davis is very familiar with, striving to improve the nation through community service in her capacity as an AmeriCorps Vista through the Western New York AmeriCorps office.
Working within Partnerships for Results, a quasi-governmental agency dedicated to promoting the positive social, emotional and educational development of youth and their families, Davis combined both organizations' missions to create the Youth Service Learning Project. This project endeavors to create positive connections between teenagers and the world around them by exposing them to various service careers by way of job shadowing, as well as through community service.
“Community development is really important,” Davis said, “and the original goal was to strengthen the relationships between adults and youth. (Partnership for Results) was concerned about young people not having anything to do, so they thought if they brought in a Vista, that person could reach youth.”
Davis began thinking of service projects students could perform for the community. Familiar with the Calvary Food Pantry and its pale pink-colored walls, Davis approached pantry coordinator Nancy Sheffield and asked if she and her students could give the basement a face-lift. Sheffield was more than excited about the prospect of a revitalized space.
Using donated paints from the food pantry and Partnership for Results, students repainted the entire basement space pastel green with the individualized mural painted on five panels across one segment of the wall.
Eat Well Play Hard donated some athletic mats for children to use, and to recognize that, Chris Porten, 16, of Auburn, painted a panel in the organization's honor. Porten, who someday wants to become a graphic designer, used the service project as an opportunity to augment his resume and portfolio.
To further the theme of Eat Well Play Hard and early childhood development, participants Cali DeLand and her sister Mandy, as well as Townes, planned on adding to the mural shapes and healthy foods to promote good nutrition.
Dillon Davis-Tirado, 14, of Auburn, and Lisa Davis' son, decided to join the Youth Service Learning Project to help him achieve his required hours of community service through Tyburn Academy of Mary Immaculate. He looks at the mural project as a way to give children a positive outlook on life - that they are capable of anything.
And while Nikkia Borowski, 16, of Auburn, has no artistic skills, she is more than willing to pitch in a helping hand with the paint roller if it means children can enjoy the space.
“As long as their parents have to come in here,” she said, “why not have it be a place they want to go to.”
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
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Farmer's Gal wrote on Jul 3, 2009 3:33 PM: