Family Service seeks ‘super volunteers’

PROVIDENCE – Family Service of Rhode Island is looking for “super volunteers” for its Walking School Bus program to honor one of its first volunteers who died in an automobile accident.
“Super Volunteers” will receive $500 per school semester for volunteering at least four times a week. The nonprofit has stipends for eight ‘Super Volunteer’ positions available for the upcoming school year for the Walking School Bus, said Family Service of Rhode Island’s Julie Casimiro.
Casimiro is interim director of a Family Service program called Providence Children’s Initiative, which runs the Walking School Bus program.
The Walking School Bus program ensures safety and timeliness along routes to and from school at both Bailey and Fogarty elementary schools in Providence’s South Side neighborhood. The program is aimed at reducing tardiness and absenteeism.
“One of the first volunteers when the Walking Bus began in 2012 was Ian Cameron from East Greenwich,” Casimiro said. “He started volunteering his time while he was home from college for winter break. Though it was bitterly cold, he volunteered with an unparalleled level of enthusiasm, passion and dedication.”
Cameron, who attended Rocky Hill School in East Greenwich, was 24 years old when he died in an automobile accident, and was a student at Middlebury College in Vermont.
“On behalf of all of us who love Ian, we thank Family Service of Rhode Island for this opportunity to honor his memory,” said close friend Abby Kretsch, who helped created the Walking School Bus program when she worked at Family Service of Rhode Island. “He loved the Walking School Bus, so we are pleased that he will continue to be associated with it.”
Anyone interested in becoming an Ian Cameron Super Volunteer should call 401-331-1350 ext. 3457. Funding for the stipends is from the federal Safe Routes to School Program.
For more information, visit www.familyserviceri.org.

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