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Honolulu Lite
ONE of my favorite lines by writer P.J. O'Rourke is his advice to Generation Xers: "Pull your pants up, turn your hat around and get a job." Giving pays off
for volunteersTo that I might add: And do something for someone else for a change.
I'm talking about volunteerism, a quaint relic of a bygone time. But it isn't dead. I suspect that our baggy-panted, Day Glo-haired youths eventually will realize that hanging out at the mall looking cool doesn't provide much of a spiritual boost in the long run. They aren't idiots, even if they pretend to be. One of them is going to volunteer to do something for someone else one day and find out it feels better than a hit of Ecstasy after a five-day rave.
Then, who knows, maybe the practice will spread. Maybe it will become cool to be a volunteer. Maybe young guys with a reputation of helping those in need will become chick magnets. Maybe volunteering will be considered sexier than bare midriffs and belly button rings. Maybe I've completely lost my mind.
There already are a lot of young people who volunteer for everything from beach cleanups to caring for the elderly. But you don't hear about them. We in the media aren't allowed to disclose any random acts of kindness by our youth. It's a rule. We can tell you only about kids who shoot each other. Or kids in gangs. Or kids who get killed joy riding.
I actually don't know many kids who volunteer. They are like a secret society. But they are out there. And this time of year they are deciding which causes they will be devoting their summer school break to.
I know this because I talked to Joan Naguwa , program director of Helping Hands Hawaii's Voluntary Action Center. The center acts as a contact point for more than 400 programs around the state that depend on volunteers.
"We connect people who have something to share -- time, energy and resources -- with different organizations who rely on volunteers to get their job done," she told me. And young people are welcome.
"It gives them perspective and builds a sense of civic responsibility and self-esteem," she said. (Some of the things you don't get hanging at the mall looking like a big dope.)
The list of organizations needing the help of volunteers is staggering. It covers everything from weekend beach cleanings by YES (Youth for Environmental Service) -- those are the folks who paint the fish on storm drains -- to working with food banks, the homeless, summer schools, hospitals and nursing homes.
The action center reaches out to young people through its Web site (http://americaspromisehawaii.org) which lists all of the openings for volunteers. Or you can talk to Joan by calling 536-5006. The age limit is, well, unlimited. Children can work with their parents on the weekend programs. Kids 12 and up have a wide variety of projects to keep them busy all summer.
Most hospitals also have volunteer programs, but the minimum age is usually 14 or 15 years old. And there's limited space.
Annette Ternes, Queen's Hospital's volunteer services coordinator, said high school kids have until May 1 to sign up for the hospital's summer volunteer program (call 547-4397).
I was stunned to find out that 300 people applied to Queen's summer program last year. Only 175 were accepted.
So, pull your pants up, turn your hat around and do something worthwhile this summer. Volunteer.
Charles Memminger, winner of
National Society of Newspaper Columnists
awards in 1994 and 1992, writes "Honolulu Lite"
Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Write to him at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin,
P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, 96802
or send E-mail to charley@nomayo.com or
71224.113@compuserve.com.
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