Frazier teen says volunteering strengthens community bonds
(This is the ninth in a series of nine stories)
Frazier High School senior Erica Harvey said juggling all of her activities — community service, academics with two sports — can be a challenge, but she wouldn’t change a thing.
Volunteering, she said, is especially worth the balancing act.
“Community service helps you meet new people and grow a stronger bond with the community,” she said. “You also [get] the understanding that without your help around the community, some of the things you are doing might have never [gotten] done.”
Harvey, daughter of Renee and Paul Harvey, has logged many hours of volunteer work through the Girl Scouts, including pet care at the Fayette Friends of Animals, landscaping for the municipal building and donating clothes and hygiene items to the women’s shelter in Uniontown.
Her Girl Scout troop also filmed an informational video to help ease the fears of young children who will undergo operations at the hospital. She says all of her community work with the Girl Scouts has “taught [her] how to become a leader, not a follower.”
In addition to volunteering, Harvey retains a 3.66 grade-point average and played all four years of both softball and basketball for Frazier High School. She has shared her love of these sports with young girls who came to practice to watch and learn, teaching them the basics of ball-handling and the rules of the games.
Harvey’s commitment to helping others will soon become a career, as she will attend Wheeling Jesuit University for her nursing degree in the fall. When she steps into her future career as a nurse, she knows her ability to balance obligations will be an asset.
“I believe one must possess a work/life balance in order to be successful personally and professionally,” said Harvey. “Time management was a must in order to juggle high school, sports, scouting, organizational involvement, but the skills [I] learned will last a lifetime, and help me to become a nurse.”
For her community service efforts Harvey has been awarded the Fayette County Community Service All-Star Award.
She’s among nine local students being honored for putting forth an extra effort to make a difference in their communities.
Participants include students from Albert Gallatin, Brownsville Area, Frazier, Connellsville Area, Geibel Catholic, Laurel Highlands and Uniontown Area high schools, along with Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, and the Laurel Business Institute.
Each school selects its own award winner, based on the student’s community service endeavors over the last three years. Students must have a minimum 3.25 grade-point average.
Under the program’s guidelines, a $500 check will be sent to Wheeling Jesuit University on behalf of Harvey. She could also receive a matching grant from the Community Foundation of Fayette County, depending on certain requirements.
Sponsors include the Herald-Standard, Dave and Linda Meredith, Jes Hutson, Cherokee Fur, Inc., Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, Paul and Shelley Songer, United Bank, Ben and Dr. Barbara Wright, Russell Blaho, Coldwell Banker, Dan Evans, Hartsek Catering, Kisiel and Associates PC, Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, Alumni Society, Joe and Katie Price, Rock Bottom Motors, Sepic Orthodontics, Jim Saul, Abby’s Gold and Gems, Martha Brownfield, Larry and Carol George, Leda Gismondi, Tim and Debbie Seeger, Doug Wood, Upper Room, Inc., Gismondi Associates PC and Slavik’s, Inc.
Committee Trustees are Paul Bortz, Cindy Digga, Leda Gismondi, Dave Meredith, Tara Phillips, Jim Saul, Katie Semans, Mark Skoric and Jes Hutson.
The students will be honored at a 7:30 a.m. breakfast Wednesday at the Holiday Inn in Uniontown. Ben Wright will be the master of ceremonies, and Gina Jones, a professor at Penn State Fayette, will be the guest speaker. Two co-captains will be named in honor and memory of Harry Brownfield and Jim Gismondi. The co-captains will receive an extra $100.
This is the 10th year for the program, which started in 2004.