Volunteering is becoming almost as important for many college students as weekend parties and going to class.

A national study of college students in 2001 by Hart Research Associates, showed that 68% were involved in a volunteer or service activity during their time in college. In fact, Hart reported, volunteerism has become part of the college experience.

Students at Drew University are no exception. And a new student-run Volunteer Resource Center at the college should make volunteering even easier.

Drew's Volunteer Center is run by a part-time staff of four students and is open 30 hours a week. Senior Ben Salmon acts as coordinator and he is helped by Juniors Patricia Hagdorn and Caroline Young, and Sophomore Ashley Gebhardt.

According to Salmon, the idea behind the Volunteer Center is to help match students (and faculty and staff members) who want to volunteer with opportunities in surrounding communities.

"The purpose of the Center is to make it as easy as possible for Drew people to volunteer on and off campus," Salmon said, "Especially for students, we feel that volunteerism can add another dimension to their college experience. Hopefully, with many, if not all, of our students, their volunteer experiences at Drew can help set the stage for a life-long commitment to service."

An important role for the Drew Volunteer Center will be to serve as a clearing house of volunteer opportunities. So, for example, if an organization in Madison needs volunteers it would contact the Drew Volunteer Center and have its jobs posted on campus.

Although the Center will focus on matching volunteers with opportunities in 50 different areas (e.g. child care, tutoring, computer programming), Salmon cautioned that the Center will not be able to fill every request for a volunteer. Some requests will fall outside the scope of the Center; others may not be of interest to Drew students.

To reach the Center at Drew call 973/408-5888, e-mail care@drew.edu or visit the Center on the Web at http://depts.drew.edu/care/