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Community Outreach

Lunch Buddies off to a flying start

Back to Lunch Buddies Program

On March 5, 1999, the Volpe Center launched a new volunteer program called "Lunch Buddies." The premise of the program is to have adult volunteers read to second grade students twice a month during their lunch period. It will both encourage a love of reading among the children and expose them to role models in the transportation field. Approximately 60 volunteers signed up; drawing from the ranks of the Volpe Center, FTA, FRA, FHWA, NHTSA, Civil Rights, and Volpe contractors (W.T.Chen, CSC, EG&G, Planners Collaborative). This program takes place at the nearby Robert F. Kennedy School in Cambridge and involves three second grade classes. It will run through the end of the school year and will feature a celebration that includes the parents of these school children. This program is the first of its kind in Cambridge.

Volpe volunteers have received some interesting feedback-both amusing and enlightening-from the students they read to in the Lunch Buddies program. For example, as Volpe volunteers arrived for their first session at the Robert F. Kennedy School, one student, according to a volunteer, looked over all the arrivals from Volpe and giggled, "they're old!" After another session, a child sent an illustrated note to his lunch buddy that read "thank you for coming to our class. I liked reading with you and look forward to you coming back again."

Both Volpe volunteers and the children they read to have been enriched by the Lunch Buddies program. As a consequence, the program will be expanded next school year to include third as well as second graders.