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news
BLAST gives credit
By Sarah Langford
On-line Forty-Niner
Long Beach BLAST,
a mentoring program in the Long Beach community, will host
a recognition event Wednesday at the Long Beach Public Library
to show its appreciation for the hard-working volunteers in
its program.
The volunteers to be recognized include 240 college students
who just finished a ten-week program in which they mentored
at-risk children in after-school programs. The reception,
beginning at 3:30, will also honor the children themselves
and the site directors, followed by some light refreshments.
BLAST -- Better Learning After School Today -- a nonprofit
organization that works closely with Cal State Long Beach
and 20 K-8 schools in the Long Beach area, has experienced
tremendous growth in the number of volunteers since its inception
in 2000. It began with 12 volunteers.
"Word has spread among faculty at CSULB since last year,"
said Executive Director Jean Egan. "Also, the number
of service-learning courses, in which students are required
to go out into the community and serve, have increased. We
have a strong partnership with the Community Service Learning
Center on campus, which has helped our program become stronger
and more successful."
The volunteer program has also changed since its first year.
Instead of working with a large group of children, this year
volunteers are often paired up with one or two children for
a more one-on-one experience. Small group formats are also
employed, making it easier for the mentors to establish solid
relationships with their students rather than being spread
thin with too many children.
"Many of our volunteers walk onto a site the first day
feeling very intimidated," said Arzina Ali, College Volunteer
Program coordinator. "By the second or third week they
have become much more comfortable and by week five, they've
developed trusting, caring relationships with the kids that
are quite enviable."
The next project on BLAST's plate is launching a program for
adult volunteers on a year-round basis. In the meantime, they
will continue serving the community of Long Beach and honoring
those students that help them do that.
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