Volume CXXXIII, Number 4 October 3, 2003 f

Bowdoin student makes every day a Common Good Day
JENNIE COHEN
STAFF WRITER

Joel Presti '06 is currently working on a variety of service projects, including a look into escalating housing prices in Brunswick. (Hans Law, Bowdoin Orient)

Presti spent his time in changing lives in Lima, Peru, where he renovated parts of a shantytown. He continues his work in areas of the local Brunswick community all year long.

At Bowdoin, Presti's most significant project is at the Tedford Shelter, a program he co-leads with Matt Thomson '06 and Kate Mullin '05. With the help of Bowdoin students and members of the Brunswick community, the shelter serves meals donated by community members and local restaurants to residents of the shelter and other guests.

Presti's involvement extends beyond the Tedford shelter. "I am on an inter-college council, where 19 colleges in Maine are sending a member of their college to the Maine Campus Compact Counsel, meeting and discussing networking ideas and ideas for the colleges, like what a college role should be in a town," he said.

One of the projects that emerged from the council is called "Civic Fellows," which will begin in the spring. Presti said that he other Bowdoin students will "look at how expensive housing in the Brunswick area is, and how that doesn't allow low income families a chance to live well in Brunswick, because of escalating housing prices."

Presti's plan for Common Good Day is to plant flowers at a low-income retirement home in Portland. Last spring in Peru he worked with ten other Bowdoin students for Alternative Spring Break, where, he said, "we helped renovate a park and playground in a shantytown."

Besides being a valuable experience on the individual level, Presti believes "getting involved really makes a difference in our town-gown relations with Brunswick. " He said that he doesn't want community members "just to think, 'Those are those students going off to parties, being loud and waking up my kids.' I think they should say, 'Wow, there is John walking by, and he tutors my kid in math.'"

"Volunteering isn't a huge commitment," Presti said. "You can do mentoring, tutoring, maybe one or two hours a week. Even if you do sports or a lot of other things, you still have time."

He traces the beginning of his involvement in community service to his high school years in his hometown in Indiana. The Catholic school he attended had a service requirement for a religion class. As Presti described it, "I got into it, and then I ended up volunteering on my own."

Presti encourages students to go to the Community Service Resource Center in the Curtis Pool building and talk to Susan Dorn, the administrator of the community service program.

"She can set you up with something that would take one hour a week or more, depending on how much you want to do," he said. "Its really easy to get involved, and the time will really make a difference in the lives of others."

since 11/01/02 FastCounter by bCentral