Tiernan Project
The YWCA has a wardrobe to provide underprivileged women appropriate clothing for the workplace at a very cheap price of $1 per item... $0.50 for residents of the YWCA. We will be assisting in organizing the wardrobe for the fall/winter season.
The highlight of this event was no doubt watching the boys show off their knowledge of hair care products...because Kenny and Cyrus are experts in that area. Pam W. got all the teasing opportunities there....Pam O., Megan, Rachel E. and Gwen sorted clothing, while Aiza steam cleaned. Any other stories are apparently not suitable for the website...
Susan B. Anthony Legacy Race - 21 September
Tiernanites can race (registration fee $10) or call times at the mile markers and warn racers of the speedbumps along the path. Transportation to the race will be provided from CLARC to the start of the race or appropriate mile marker; the race ends at the Chapel.
Liability issues demand that we warn the racers of the speedbumps....which were very gradual and very clearly marked, earning some very strange looks for Tiernanits. Crystal remains convinced that people thought we were calling them speedbumps, instead of warning them about them. Melissa called out times to the racers as they passed the 2-mile mark, which didn't do much for the hard-core runners but made a group of walking kids so excited (time: about 38 minutes) that they started running ahead, announcing their time to the world.
Special cheering was produced for Gail, who was making the effort of actually running. Apparently the registration fee was worth the food at the end of the race, as she declared "I'll run anywhere for chocolate milk!".
Scarecrow Festival - 27 September
Tiernanites main job is to assist at the face painting booths (artistic talent is not required; kids don't care, so long as it's on their face), although we may also be helping out at concessions and other booths.
The ZooBoo is an annual event at the Seneca Park Zoo where children can come in costume and play at the zoo. We will be manning the stations for the Scavenger Hunt.
As a "scavenger hunt", little children in costume (aided extensively by their parents) came to various exhibits of the zoo, answered a small riddle about the animal at the exhibit, and got candy and a stamp. The kids had the candy thing down, though many of them had to be prompted to answer. How well would you do at the Tiernan stations?
"My fur is orange, the color of Halloween. In my home, it helps me hide in the forest".
"I move very slowly from tree to tree; if you move to fast you might miss me". (Crystal had this one stuck in her head)
"We are glad you joined us at the ZooBoo, says the cousin of Zabo".
"They call me the King although I have no crown; my powerful beak helps me make dinner a feast".
Tiernanites had to refrain from eating the candy and make sure that kids got only 3 pieces each. We entertained ourselves by looking at the Orangutans, and learning all about how the big male one got out of its cage a while ago; for the Sloths, moving more than four feet in four hours would mean you missed them, since they slept in boxes except for about ten minutes in there somewhere. The Lemurs hung out in a tree, and the King Vulture....well, at some point it got fed. Very...fascinating.
Our biggest community service event of the year! This party serves disadvantaged children from the Rochester community. Children come in costume to theTiernan Community Room, which is very decorated in Halloween style. There will be games, face-painting, pizza, a haunted hallway, and children will be taken trick-or-treating around the dorms of the Quad.
The Al Sigl Walk is a disabilities fundraiser Tiernan has volunteered at often in the past. We will be assisting with clean up of Marketplace Mall after the walk, before the mall opens to the public.
Tiernanites woke up fairly early in the morning to drive over to Marketplace Mall. After enjoying a nice snack at the mall food court, we were set to work cleaning up so the mall would be ready to open at 10am for its regular customers. This involved the transportations of boxes and balloons, clearing up the goodies tables (and collecting a few of the extras ourselves; where else can you get a coloring page for Toys'r'us's Geoffrey?
Laura Schell's Retention Project this year is to organize Tiernanites to go receive phone calls at a PBS fundraiser. We will be accepting donations on behalf of PBS. Yes, we'll be doing phones, but it isn't the same as telemarketing, and you have the chance to be on TV.
Waking up incredibly early in the morning (or staying up incredibly late, for some of us), a hearty group of Tiernanites trooped off to the PBS broadcast station to handle phone calls during the Tel-a-Thon fundraiser. While there we pulled double duty, providing live coverage during the Sesame Street hours and also shooting taped sessions to air during the opera the following Wednesday. Mostly our job consisted of occassionally calling each other to make the phone lines look busy, particularly during the opera taping, since no one was actually getting the message to call at that time. Many truly wonderful conversations occured as we played the switchboard operators. And even everyone who wanted to take a real call had the joy, as well as getting any number of calls from kids who liked pushing the buttons on the telephone.
Christmas Card Mailing - 11 December
While there's only so much to normally be said for placing cards and donation envelopes in larger mailing envelopes, it's much more interesting when you divide into two teams and have a mock competition, or enjoy the banter about the most efficient card-inserter or enveloped-flap-folder.
The most amazing thing about the mailing is that the Christmas cards were drawn by a five year old staying at Sojourner House. The artistic quality is quite high; I'm 20 and I can't draw anywhere near that well.
Al Sigl Center - "Just One" Campaign - 13 February
Every year the Al Sigl Center, an organization dedicated to assisting those in the Rochester area with disabilities, organizes the "just one" campaign where they ask Rochester residents to mail in just one dollar to help them fund their various programs. Well, if everyone in Rochester sends in a dollar...that's a lot of envelopes! Our job is to assist them deal with all this incoming mail, by opening envelopes and sorting money. This is a good excuse to sit around a table and talk with friends while getting credit for community service!
The numbers are in, and Tiernanites have been very helpful. Tiernanites opened envelopes containining $4523 of donations. Not all of these were single dollars though! The largest donation received was opened by Crystal, a $250 check; the oddest number was opened by Mike, a $41 check. Most envelopes opened is Katye, with 168. This job was actually more complicated than it seemed, because the ASC wanted to keep track of how many donations of different amounts they received, and so we had to make sure to keep track of how many of those envelopes contained one dollar bill, or two, three or four, and all the different amounts. And wasn't it fun counting all that money?
Security Bike Lock Giveaway - 3 March
In preparation for a rash of new bikes - and potential bike thefts - on campus after Spring Break and the (theoretical) return of good weather, Security will be hosting an information table, complete with a raffle to win a quality bike lock.
What better way to teach than with props? In addition to informative posters and pamphlets, Security Guard Bob helped educate students about the benefits and problems of different kinds of bike with a little hands-on training.
The Tiernan Project is a University of Rochester SA Recognized organization
website ŠUniversity of Rochester 2005 webmaster Katharine Blackwell
last updated 2005.01.18