AES Students and Community Service

Community service projects give AES students an opportunity to interact with native speakers and help the community at the same time. There are several activities planned during the term. Here are some photos of past trips.

Walk for Unity

The goal of Walk for Unity is to celebrate diversity and to promote a better understanding and respect for all members of the Washington County, Oregon community. AES students helped to guide participants along the walk.

Rose Festival Float Construction

The Rose Festival is one of Portland's largest tourist attractions. Every June, thousands of visitors come to town to see the beautiful roses, listen to great music, tour ships from the Navy fleet, and watch renowned parades! Our students volunteered their time to decorate parade floats with seeds and flowers.

Jenny and Jinho in front of the finished product at the Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade 2008!

Store to Door

Working with Store To Door, the volunteers shop for groceries and household goods for elderly and disabled people. Our shopping for these people allows them to maintain their independent living. We spend the morning at a Fred Meyer grocery store and gather groceries for several clients.

Treasures' Carnival

AES students Nadia, Meryem, and Hafedh volunteered at a Treasure's Carnival in Tualatin. Here we see the students helping disabled adults play various games, such as fishing, miniature golf, and bean bag toss. Such activities allow disabled adults to have some recreation in the community, and the AES students all reported how good it felt to be able to be of service to others and to observe another aspect of US life and culture.