Annual Servathon Kicks Off Tomorrow

Madye Henson wants to make an impact. With thousands of volunteers committed to community service projects throughout the Washington area, she might get to fulfill that desire.

The Greater Washington Servathon, an annual two-day event highlighting volunteerism and sponsored by Greater DC Cares, begins tomorrow.

"It's exciting. The collective set of activities is going to make a difference," said Henson, president of Greater DC Cares, a nonprofit organization that links volunteers and businesses with nonprofit groups that rely on community support.

More than 3,500 volunteers paid a $25 registration fee to participate in this year's event. They chose from a variety of projects including building playgrounds, painting classrooms at schools, installing computer labs, feeding the homeless and creating eco-friendly projects.

Registration began in January and ended Monday. On-site registration is not allowed.

Participants will spread out to 65 community service projects Saturday, the main day for individual volunteers. There are 50 project locations in the District, eight in Virginia and seven in Maryland.

Projects begin at varying times, but none will last longer than five hours. Henson said that's all the time she needs.

"You can make a difference in five hours," she said.

Servathon hosted more than 1,100 volunteers when it began in 1992. William "Billy" Fettweis, coordinator for volunteer outreach at Greater DC Cares, said this year's event will host the largest number of participants to date despite the tough economic climate.

Fettweis said laid-off workers and college students who have yet to find jobs are using volunteering to "fill their time." He said most of the projects have "fallen to the bottom of the priority list" because of financial constraints affecting most community organizations.

"There's so much need in our region," Fettweis said.

About 200 volunteers will gather at Malcolm X Elementary School in Southeast to paint classrooms and assist with landscaping projects on the school grounds.

About 300 volunteers will assist the Anacostia Watershed Society in Bladensburg with pulling garlic mustard plants, a nonnative invasive species, from Greenbelt Park and Cherry Hill Road Park in College Park.

"We're talking hundreds of acres of land that is affected," said Steven Reynolds, a spokesman for the Anacostia Watershed Society.

"The more people we get, the greater area we can cover," Reynolds said. "Otherwise, there'd only be two of us doing it."

Henson, who will supervise her first Servathon as president of Greater DC Cares, said the volume of projects being completed at the same time should result in an instant effect on the community. She said the ability to see the immediate results of their service encouraged more volunteers to participate.

"This is a community where we have a great demographic that understands 'I can make a difference,' " she said. "We've seen an increase in the number of those who feel they can make a difference. That to me is incredibly exciting."