What keeps Anne Townsend going is the growing desire of St. Lawrence students to volunteer. “I find each year that more first-year students come to my office and ask ‘What can I do to help?’” she says.  “Students come in with all sorts of ways to help the community.  You can’t help but get excited about that.”

Anne has been working with St. Lawrence students for 18 years.  “I knew, after working at San Diego State University, that I wanted to continue working in higher education, and I found that St. Lawrence was the best connection for me,” she says.

Anne was director of student activities for 12 years before becoming project director for the David Garner Center for Collegiate Volunteerism in 2001.  “I help students who want to connect with the [North Country] community,” she says.  Last year, Anne helped more than 600 St. Lawrence students volunteer for more than 13,000 hours.  “Volunteering helps students learn new skills and build confidence, and that’s an empowering thing.  They don’t have to feel helpless when they see something going wrong—they can do something about it.”

Each spring, Anne organizes Spring Break community service trips.  In 2006, she set up a trip to Slidell, La., to help with Hurricane Katrina relief, and another to the St. Francis Inn, outside of Philadelphia, Pa., to help in their Soup Kitchen.  This year, she will be offering a trip to the St. Francis Inn again, and a Habitat for Humanity trip to Charleston, S.C., where students will help build new homes in a poverty-stricken area.  “During these trips, I especially enjoy the meaningful discussions we have at the end of the day, when students have the chance to reflect on their experiences,” she says.

Anne also coordinates SLU Buddies, a one-on-one mentoring program that pairs a St. Lawrence student with a child who needs help academically and emotionally.  The program provides 165 mentors at two nearby public schools.  “Each semester, I have more students who want to be a part of this than spaces available,” she notes. “If that isn’t inspiring, I don’t know what is.”