Harlem is a small town, less than 2,000 people, inside the large suburban county of Columbia, home to more than 100,000 people. Located off Interstate 20 (Exit 183) on your way to Augusta, Harlem is known for its annual Oliver Hardy festival the first Saturday in October. More than 30,000 people swarm the streets of Harlem on that day each year. Oliver Hardy, the rotund partner of Stan Laurel, was born in Harlem and the town has embraced his legacy as their own. It even has a museum in their honor.

The people of Harlem also embrace volunteerism. Name a project and they work to help. Last year, the local Relay for Life raised more than $55,000 for cancer research. The spirit of giving their money and especially their time permeates all levels of society here. Volunteers come from every walk of life. City officials and church leaders,  students and seniors, business owners and employees, they all pitch in on projects such as restoring the old theater, community cleanup, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick or mentoring a young person.

When this community learned there was a way to get more involved through Hands On Georgia, they jumped right in. Hands On Harlem (HOH) works to help their own community, but they reach out beyond their borders to the rest of Columbia County and over into neighboring Richmond County, home to Fort Gordon and thousands of military families.

With the introduction of three AmeriCorps members this year, the number of volunteer projects has grown exponentially. “And so has the number of volunteers,” said Lynn Miller, a Hands On Harlem AmeriCorps member. “People stop me in my driveway on my way to the mailbox to ask about what we are doing.”

HOH AmeriCorps member Gina Twyman has tapped into Fort Gordon’s Youth Challenge Academy to recruit volunteers to help with a downtown Augusta homeless shelter that is in need of so many services, not the least of which is a roof. “We are going to find a way to get them a roof,” said Twyman, who has made this her personal mission. “It will happen.”

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, HOH hosted a regional project at the Euchee Creek Senior Center for more than 50 people over the age of 60, many of whom were 90 or older. They made bookmarks, played cards and shared their experiences of what the Civil Rights Era was like for them. A Seat for Social Justice with pictures of those days sits in the senior center vestibule.

“This was such a neat project,” said Bonnie Vest, an AmeriCorps member in Harlem. “We are looking forward to doing a seat with middle school students in our after-school program.”

HOH’s next big project is hosting a Volunteer Fair at Augusta State University (ASU) on March 27. HOH is inviting all the public service agencies in the area to set up a table with information describing the volunteer opportunities with their organization. The goal is to get a significant portion of ASU’s 6,500 students to connect with these agencies and find ways to get involved in their community.

Ron Lunk, assistant director of student services at ASU, attended a Hands On Georgia meeting in Macon and learned of the local affiliate.

“We really want to show students how many opportunities there are to get involved,” said Lunk. “We are very excited about this project and hope that everyone on campus will participate.”

Meanwhile, Hands On Harlem is getting ready to launch an interactive web site to encourage and track volunteerism throughout the Central Savannah River Area.

“When our organization got involved with Hands On Georgia last year, we really didn’t know what to expect,” said Julie Miller, executive director of Columbia County Community Connections, which hosts three AmeriCorps members and received one of the first Hands On Georgia Challenge grants. “Who knew there could be so many ways to volunteer and make an impact in your community? I certainly had no idea.

“I would encourage every community to embrace volunteerism and to join the Hands On Georgia juggernaut,” said Miller. “Getting people from all walks of life to volunteer side by side has a way of making positive changes that cut across every barrier. It is truly remarkable.”

For more information on the dozens of projects led by Hands On Harlem, contact Julie Miller at familyconnectioncolumbiaco@comcast.net or call 706-556-0609.

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