Sometimes

giving of yourself can be the greatest gift of all. Just

ask any of the students at Hapeville Elementary or the

many volunteers that help the students achieve. The

volunteers don't just come from Hapeville, East Point and

College Park, some of them are like Fayetteville's Tamara

Vorwald, a Delta employee that wanted to help out.

At a

meeting at Delta in January, several Hapeville Elementary

School teachers and faculty members spoke about the need

for volunteers and mentors at their school. The school

made the AJC's Roll of Shame list in 1999, despite having

a variety of special programs and improved test scores

over the last several years. To help the students

achieve, there needed to be a greater deal of involvement

from the community and the surrounding area and the

school went looking for help.

30

employees from Delta signed up to offer their time. They

come from many different counties, including Fayette,

Coweta, Clayton and Henry, but their hearts are all in

the same place.

"My

son was having some trouble adjusting after my family

moved here" Vorwald recalls. "I enrolled him in

the Fayette County mentor program and saw what an impact

it had. Helping out at Hapeville Elementary was a way for

me to give back."

The

volunteers can assist the school in a variety of ways,

including reading to, tutoring or mentoring students.

Some volunteers work on school beautification, hearing

and vision screenings or language translation. The

student body at Hapeville Elementary is made up of

children from 15 different countries and over seven

languages are spoken there. Many of the volunteers from

Delta give up a lunch hour here and there to help, but

sometimes they go beyond the call of duty.

Last week,

the Delta employees made Easter goody bags for the

children with help from local stores like Kroger, KMart

and Wal-Mart. They also got assistance from Kellog's,

which donated Rice Krispies bars. Even though the school

year is coming to an end, the school and the volunteers

plan on offering activities for their students.

So far, the

children and the volunteers are getting a lot out of the

experience. The Delta employees are trying to get more of

their colleagues involved. As Vorwald points out,

"There are 15,000 employees in the Delta complex,

one percent of that is 150 people." One hundred and

fifty volunteers would cerainly make a difference in the

lives of the students. It would also make a difference in

the world.

If you are

interested in volunteering at Hapeville Elementary, call

Tamara Vorwald at 770-716-9653.

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