Idyllwild Arts National Honor Society (IANHS) students are lending strong backs and snow shoveling prowess to special needs Idyllwild residents in an outreach program designed to bring town and gown communities closer together.
“I feel like a lot of the town’s people feel that we [IA students] are in our own world, and we feel that it’s time for that to change — for us to give back,” said IANHS President Sheila Bernhoft. “We have pretty good backs and elderly town residents could use our help.”
Bernhoft, an IA senior viola major, spearheaded the project along with 13 IANHS colleagues, Luke Sherman, Jamie Cahill, Everett Ford, Will Springer, Karina Li, Brent Terry, Yoo Bin Cha, Jordan Bonner, ShiShi Zhou, Geneva Winters, Esther Chung, Bella Oh, Kitty Honma and Ned Lee. The IANHS members will man shovels and manage the project.
The first IA snow brigade turned out Sunday, Jan. 24. One happy homeowner, eighty two year old Leigh Humphrey was surprised and delighted. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this,” she said. Humphrey said a group of 4 female students and IANHS advisor and math/science teacher Chris Wegemer spent over an hour shoveling her deck, a walkway to her car, and removing snow from the car. “I can’t get out and dig snow,” said Humphrey. She noted the students lacked some shoveling expertise but compensated with dedicated effort. “Chris had to take them back to campus, but he came back later to fine tune what they’d done.” Humphrey said she had 17 inches of snow on her property and the assistance couldn’t have been timelier.
Prior to leaving on Friday for an audition at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Bernhoft said the Honor Society planned to open the project to the entire school. “I’m really happy about this connection with the town,” she said. “We have weekends [to volunteer]. We spend a lot of weekends in town anyway. We need to make it so that students and people in town have a relationship of mutual support. We’re thrilled that townsfolk come to our shows and events but it’s pretty much a one-way relationship. This is our opportunity to change that.”
In addition to the IANHS core group, thirty-eight additional students signed up to volunteer — dancers, actors, musicians, filmmakers, writers and visual artists enlisted in the outreach project. They are: Khalid Wardag, Sorrelle McGill, Adrianna Adoma, Georgina Bertheau, Ali Timmons, Hailey Mora, Paulina Kurtz, Andie Huebsch, Dakota Bailey, Gina Galetto, DJ Strong, Ari Howell, Brooke Hebert, Cathy Velarde, Miracle Chance, Haley Kuhlmann, Becca Goldberg, Jing Li, Kathryn Schmidt, Hanna Anderson, Scarlett Urbano, Laura Holliday, Juwan Lockett, Ryu Yanagita, Anna Liem, Nina Brett, Madison Marlow, Scarlett McCarthy, Samantha Jungheim, Yoobin Cha, Amelia Bushell, Helena Walker, Whitney Aviles Low, Amber Morrell, Becky Hirsch, Morgan Unsworth, Kira Hamilton and Emilio Lazcano.
Mountain Disaster Preparedness (MDP) Vice President Dora Dillman is coordinating the project with IA students. “For anyone who wants to be on the [snow shoveling] list, they should go to www.mdp-idyllwild.com and click on ‘Forms,” then click ‘Special Needs List,’” said Dillman. “Then fill out an application and fax it to 659-0180 or scan and e mail to dora@lovethehill.com. Those needing assistance can also call Dillman at (951) 288-5604 or IANHS advisor Wegemer at (951) 659-2171 ext. 2509.
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