Feed the hungry. Clean up a beach. Plant trees. Help build a home. And, along the way, she's also helping a homeless shelter move to a new location.
Rhea Ellis-Anwyl, 25, is touring nine western states, volunteering wherever she can in order to raise awareness about altruism.
Her mission is the Altruism Project, and her goal is "an effort to foster and spread the idea of selfless action."
She's in Flagstaff for the week, volunteering her time at the Flagstaff Family Food Center and the Flagstaff Shelter Services homeless shelter.
"Everyone should be more altruistic," Ellis-Anwyl said Tuesday while helping pack boxes at the shelter in preparation for the during the week of April 16-21. "I just wanted to inspire people to do a little something more with their free time."
GIVEN SO MUCH
From her home in Arcata, Calif., she plans to drive to more than two dozen locations to help out agencies with their causes. Where she can, she'll stay with friends, stay in hostels, "couch surf" with people she meets on the way, or sleep in her car.
The project is supported with $1,200 from fundraising and another $800 of her own money for phone service and gas.
The project started at the beginning of March and Ellis-Anwyl said she hopes to be back home and back to work as an assisted-living caregiver by early June.
"I've just been given so much in life," Ellis-Anwyl said. "I, at least, wanted to give my part, give back."
Of her experience, she said it has been "eye-opening."
"So many people need help," she said. "They don't need much."
Her inspiration to hit the road occurred to her one day standing on a street and watching cars whiz by. She said she was struck by how many people she was close to, but with whom she had no connection. She also became painfully aware, she said, of how little time people say they have to devote to helping others.
"It's so simple," she said.
TWO-FOLD BENEFIT
Tom Isakson, programs manager at the shelter, said the benefit of Ellis-Anwyl's effort is two-fold because it helps get a lot of work done for the move, and her attitude helps the clients.
"When they hear what she's doing, that says something to them," Isakson said, adding that the men were a little surprised and even shocked, but impressed by her mission.
"It's been great," Isakson said of her visit. "She immediately latched onto jobs, got stuff done and has such a caring attitude."
Isakson said the shelter will be closing for the season on April 16. Since opening in mid-October, the shelter has served more than 500 different people and has averaged between 40 and 48 bed nights every night during that period.
"I don't know when we've been under 40 in months," Isakson added.
The new shelter, which is bigger, will house between 60 and 80 men a night, and it will be able to open overnight as early as mid-July through the winter season thanks to a grant from the city.
Although the final figures aren't in yet, Isakson said the trend of continued growth in use of the shelter is a sign of hard economic times in the economy. In the 10-week hiatus for the shelter, the clients will have to find alternate housing at night.
When the new shelter opens in the summer, the eventual goal is to be open for overnight services year-round.
MOVING ON
When Ellis-Anwyl finishes up in Flagstaff, she'll head to the Grand Canyon. Then it's off to Colorado to the Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center to volunteer with people with disabilities and special needs.
She's not expecting any reward from the effort. She has no expectations other than to simply give of her time. But a smile from the people her volunteer work is helping definitely gives her reward.
"It's being connected," she said, smiling. "It's closing that gap. That's the most rewarding part -- putting smiles on their faces. That's the best part."
For more information on Ellis-Anwyl's journey, visit www.altruismproject.wordpress.com.
Larry Hendricks can be reached at 556-2262 or lhendricks@azdailysun.com.
Shelter needs volunteers for move
Flagstaff Shelter Services, when it closes its doors for the season on April 16, will need a bevy of volunteers to help with moving to a new, larger location in the city.
Tom Isakson, programs manager for the shelter, said that "dozens" of volunteers are needed for the week of April 16-21 to move from the city-owned property on Phoenix Avenue to the new property on Industrial Avenue.
"By Saturday afternoon, we'd like the old location to be empty and ready for the city to use," Isakson said.
Folks interested in volunteering an hour, an afternoon or a day or two can RSVP with the shelter at 255-2533, or e-mail tisakson@flagstaffshelter.org, or visit www.flagstaffshelter.org.
via: azdailysun
