By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@thecitizennews.com

Sometimes giving of yourself can be the greatest gift of all. Just ask any of the students at Hapeville Elementary or the many volunteers that help the students achieve. The volunteers don't just come from Hapeville, East Point and College Park, some of them are like Fayetteville's Tamara Vorwald, a Delta employee that wanted to help out.

At a meeting at Delta in January, several Hapeville Elementary School teachers and faculty members spoke about the need for volunteers and mentors at their school. The school made the AJC's Roll of Shame list in 1999, despite having a variety of special programs and improved test scores over the last several years. To help the students achieve, there needed to be a greater deal of involvement from the community and the surrounding area and the school went looking for help.

30 employees from Delta signed up to offer their time. They come from many different counties, including Fayette, Coweta, Clayton and Henry, but their hearts are all in the same place.

"My son was having some trouble adjusting after my family moved here" Vorwald recalls. "I enrolled him in the Fayette County mentor program and saw what an impact it had. Helping out at Hapeville Elementary was a way for me to give back."

The volunteers can assist the school in a variety of ways, including reading to, tutoring or mentoring students. Some volunteers work on school beautification, hearing and vision screenings or language translation. The student body at Hapeville Elementary is made up of children from 15 different countries and over seven languages are spoken there. Many of the volunteers from Delta give up a lunch hour here and there to help, but sometimes they go beyond the call of duty.

Last week, the Delta employees made Easter goody bags for the children with help from local stores like Kroger, KMart and Wal-Mart. They also got assistance from Kellog's, which donated Rice Krispies bars. Even though the school year is coming to an end, the school and the volunteers plan on offering activities for their students.

So far, the children and the volunteers are getting a lot out of the experience. The Delta employees are trying to get more of their colleagues involved. As Vorwald points out, "There are 15,000 employees in the Delta complex, one percent of that is 150 people." One hundred and fifty volunteers would cerainly make a difference in the lives of the students. It would also make a difference in the world.

If you are interested in volunteering at Hapeville Elementary, call Tamara Vorwald at 770-716-9653.

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