page 8
daily nebraskan
Volunteer for elderly
makes point with music
By Liz Crumley
One old woman who used to play organ for silent
movies, an old man who says his lip is gone-these people
and the rest, "who just like music," are the ones Julie
Wilkins, UNL sophomore, is trying to help through music.
Every Wednesday afternoon Wilkins, a piano major, goes
to the Americana Health Care Center, for two and a half
hours to "try to find a purpose for these people-a reason
for living."
"I knew if we could just find something to motivate
them. . .," she said.
This motivation takes the form of a choir for some,
personal instruction for others and programs she devises,
Wilkins said,
"Moving is a problem"
Inevitably problems have arisen, she said.
"Moving is a problem at that place," she said. When she
first went to the home, Wilkins said, she did not expect the
people "to be that sickly."
Several of the people are bedridden, she said, and many
others are confined to wheelchairs. Wilkins added she has to'
go to their rooms and bring them down for any program
she wants to present or any instruction she wants to give.
A problem also arises because of her working hours
(4:30 to 7 p.m.), Wilkins said.
"A lot of people just can't stay up that late. They have
to want to come and they have to be willing to stay up
late."
Wilkens also said she was forced to give up a program for
the residents because of their physical condition. This in
volved a bell-ringing choir, she said.
"They physically aren't strong enough to hold the
bells," she said.
Number varies
However, she was able to start a vocal choir with about
six persons in it.
This is the average number of residents she gets per
week, Wilkins said. The number varies, she said, because
their condition changes so much from day to day.
"But even if one person comes out and appreciates it,
then it's worth it," she said.
"I'm young and I try to be enthusiastic and positive. If I
am, then they think they are too.
"But if you can get old people inspired about anything,
you've made a point."
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Photo by Tad Kirk
UNL student Julie Wilkins serves as a volunteer through her sharing of music.
However, Wilkins said she enjoys working with elderly So she turned to the Community Involvement Services
people. They respond. They like the contact, she added, because "I was just running into brick walls everywhere
"Don't give me that 50 age group-that middle crop, else," she said.
They're stubborn. They think they're mod and hip, but "I just feel that music is a universal language that every-
they're not." body can be a part of. It can be a real bond between
Wilkins said she started volunteer work in her junior year people."
of high school when she gave piano lessons. She said she Wilkins said she is getting married in January and will
tried to find someone needing a volunteer piano teacher move to Utah. However, she said she wants to start
this year, but none of the organizations she called did. volunteer work again when she gets there.
Lamaze training, tax aid among needs
If your interests fall somewhere between lamaze child
birth counseling and manning an emergency drug line, the
Community Involvement Service, Nebraska Union 200, has
the volunteer job you may be looking for.
Formerly the Student Volunteer Bureau, the service has
volunteer job openings in a varied range of areas, according
to Jean Costigan, Community Involvement Service assistant
director.
She said the service has posted a list in the Union Main
Lounge of 22 agencies that need student volunteers.
Costigan said they especially need students in the areas
of Volunteer Income Tax ; Assistance VITA), Lincoln's
Labor Co-op, Open Door Health Center's drug crisis line
WEST I
I
u y
I P
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and the lamaze labor coaches program. ,
40 students helped
"VITA can always use people interested in business,"
she said.
There is an unusual program for women interested in
helping unwed mothers learn lamaze natural childbirth,
Costigan said, and volunteers are needed for it.
Take husband's place
"The labor coaches take the place of a husband," she
said. "They start in the last two to three months of the
unwed mother's pregnancy and are on call through the
actual birth.
Continued on p. 10
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