LEWISTON – For the fifth year, a team of Bates College students is coordinating a program that matches fellow students with volunteer opportunities in Lewiston, Auburn and the region.

The Student Volunteer Fellows at Bates for the 2006-07 academic year are Oscar Cancio, a junior from Los Angeles; Sara Gips, a senior from Cape Elizabeth; Eugene Kim, a junior from Hooksett, N.H.; Lauren Woo, a senior from Andover, Mass.; Julie Miller-Hendry, a sophomore from Bedford, Mass.; and Aislinn Hougham, a senior from Summit, N.J.

Organized through the Harward Center for Community Partnerships, the volunteer program has engaged hundreds of Bates students in projects as diverse as tutoring elementary school pupils, working with seniors at Blake Street Towers and fighting hunger and homelessness through Lewiston’s Trinity Soup Kitchen and Auburn’s Good Shepherd Food Pantry.

“It’s important for students within the Bates community to really reach out and form a bridge over that gap between the greater community and our smaller campus community,” said Kim, who coordinates monthly events and public relations for the team.

“Possibly the most important thing is that this effort is student-run,” said Gips, who served as a fellow two years ago and this year handles hunger and homelessness issues. “So it isn’t just students who are volunteering, but also students who are finding the other students to volunteer. That speaks volumes about the changes that Bates students want to make in community-college relations.”

This year the team expanded from four volunteer fellows to six. Miller-Hendry’s work centers around elderly issues and Woo works with children’s programs. Cancio deals with Bates student clubs and varsity athletes, organizing events to make volunteering more accessible to students with already busy schedules. Hougham locates and develops new programs and develops campus volunteer leadership.

The benefit in volunteering works both ways, the fellows point out. There are opportunities to suit nearly any time commitment and area of interest, added Miller-Hendry. “It’s so flexible.”

The next major volunteer opportunity will be the annual Make-A-Difference Day, to be held Saturday, Oct. 14, with daylong projects all around Lewiston and Auburn. For more information, e-mail [email protected].