Continuing Coverage by:

Spirit of Volunteerism

October 17, 2007

By Rex Bowman and Bill McKelway

BLACKSBURG, Va. — With due respect to the University of Tennessee, Virginia Tech's Hokies are making a play to become known as the volunteers.

On Virginia Tech's Blacksburg campus and at sites across the commonwealth yesterday, Tech kicked off a drive to persuade students, teachers and staffers to each work 10 hours of volunteer time for a total of 300,000 hours. Forty-five minutes after the drive started on the campus Drillfield, the school had received pledges for 20,000 hours of labor.

The drive, begun purposely six months after the April 16 massacre, is meant to honor the 32 students and teachers gunned down by a deranged senior.

"The students are excited," said Renee Cloyd of Blacksburg, whose 18-year-old daughter, Austin Michelle Cloyd, was one of those fatally shot. "When April 16 happened, everybody wanted to do something. Now they have something to do."

Organizers also asked college students around the nation to volunteer time to charitable organizations. In Richmond, the Virginia Tech Alumni Association — 197,000 strong — launched a drive to sign alumni up for 300,000 additional hours of volunteer work.

Tech and the alumni organization hope to have pledges for 600,000 hours of work by May.

Yesterday, representatives from about 100 civic and charitable organizations set up tables across Tech's Drillfield and signed up thousands of students, all of whom pledged to do 10 hours of volunteer work. The groups ranged from the American Red Cross and the Giles County Historical Society to the YMCA and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

One of those who volunteered was student Taylor Pence, 18, of Harrisonburg. Pence made a date with a pick and shovel by agreeing to work 10 hours in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. "I just thought it would be a good thing to do to give back to the community," he said.

Cloyd, a member of the steering committee overseeing the volunteer drive, was on the Drillfield signing up volunteers for the Appalachia Service Project, which helps rehabilitate homes in Appalachia. Cloyd's daughter had done volunteer work for the organization for four years.

After an hour gathering volunteers, Cloyd stepped to a lectern set up on the Drillfield and urged the thousands of students to volunteer their time to worthy causes.

"The 32 people we lost on April 16, if you look at their biographies, you'll notice they were all very passionate about serving others," Cloyd said. "They were very passionate about using their education to serve others. Service from the heart will lead you to be a better person in what you do in life."

Last night at the Virginia Tech Richmond Center on Parham Road, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine greeted a crowd that had gathered for the VT Engage effort and promised he'll be chipping in.

"This has got to be an unprecedented effort," he said of the international volunteer drive, calling it an example of the human spirit overcoming tragedy and "shining like a bright light."

Kaine said he will join other volunteers and the Cloyd family on the Appalachia Service Project next month.

"I told her parents it would be an honor to help," Kaine said.

The Richmond Center is shared by Tech and the University of Virginia. Last night, the rivalry quickly dissolved in the face of the broad volunteer effort.

"We all get along for something like this," said Cheryl Henig, a professor at the U.Va. Curry School of Education who was sporting a VT Engage T-shirt.

More than 26 nonprofit representatives — from the Salvation Army to the Central Virginia Foodbank — helped sign up volunteers. More than 300 people had pledged to help in just two hours, said Melissa Lubin, director of the Virginia Tech Richmond Center.

"This is a great beginning," she said.

Tech President Charles W. Steger said that last year, 11,000 Hokie students performed 146,000 hours of volunteer work. Meeting the goal of 300,000 hours, he said, should not be difficult.

"I have great confidence that we can do this," he said.

Contact Rex Bowman at (540) 344-3612 or rbowman@timesdispatch.com and Bill McKelway at (804) 649-6601 or bmckelway@timesdispatch.com.