When students formed the Green Key Society in 1921, it was intended to be a community service centered organization. Seventy-three years later, the spring weekend with the society's namesake is just an excuse to party.
But there are a significant number of students on campus who spend much of their spare time each week helping the community.
About 20 percent of Dartmouth students participate in some form of community service each year, according to Randall Quan '92, the volunteer coordinator at the Tucker Foundation.
Participating students claim community service helps keep their time at Dartmouth in perspective.
Community service programs run by the Tucker Foundation range from crisis hotlines to adopt-a-grandparent.
"I think community service at Dartmouth has taken a turn for the worse," Kristin Kellogg '95 said. "I think the administration needs to put more emphasis on it. The Tucker Foundation is an untapped resource."
Kellogg is the chair of the Special Friends Program, run by the Tucker Foundation. Special Friends pairs Dartmouth students with challenged adults and adolescents in the Upper Valley area.
"The idea is to get them out of their homes and into communities," Kellogg said.
Kellogg said most of the participants are mentally challenged and are in need of one-on-one interaction.
"I've become friends with several challenged adults in the area," she said. "It's a nice way to keep a perspective on the Dartmouth scene -- to really see who's in the community."
Emmie Jones '95 has been an intern at the Good Neighbor Health Clinic in White River Junction, Vt. since her sophomore fall. The clinic treats patients who are not able to afford the medical costs at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, she said.
Jones said she spends around five hours per week at the clinic where she is helping to develop a computer database.
"It gives you a real perspective on Dartmouth," she said. "It has opened my eyes to the community around Hanover. It gives you a sense of the real world."
Sachin Mehta '97, who volunteers more than three hours each week at Headrest, a shelter in the Upper Valley, said she agrees.
"It gives you a sense of self-fulfillment," Mehta said. "That you're giving something of yourself instead of just doing what you do at school."
Mehta underwent a 10-week training period Fall term and works on a crisis hotline. The line receives calls about drug and alcohol problems, domestic violence, suicide, AIDS, sexual abuse and other matters, Mehta said.
Involved in a completely different program, Lisa Tran '96 said she experiences the same reactions as Mehta in her work.
Tran is a member of the adopt-a-grandparent program, where she spends around an hour each week with an elderly resident of Hanover Terrace, just a mile down the road from the College.
"I thought it would be good to get involved with something other than Dartmouth because I think we get caught up in everything and forget about the outside world," she said.
"It's really sad to see that one mile down the road there are so many sick and elderly people who have no one to visit them," she added.
One of the most popular programs run by Tucker is the Big Brother/Big Sister program.
Dartmouth students in the program are matched with a child from the Upper Valley who has been recommended to participate in the program by their school or family.
Most children in the program are in need of extra attention, Boris Rose '97 said.
Rose said he spends four to five hours a week with his 10-year-old little sibling Lee.
"We do fun stuff but also serious stuff," Rose said. "Like this week we're going to the library."
"It allows me to express my human side," he said. "I like kids and I like to be around them."
