By Gina Sandy
The Florida State University

Christina Koralis (left) and Therese DeLucia (right), wearing their Safari attire, sit with a few residents of Westminster Oaks to watch the "elephant race."

It was a sight I had never seen before: a room full of people, many of them over ninety years old, cheering for their favorite elephant. Sound strange?

This year the officers of the Beta Rho Chapter at Florida State University made a commitment to engage in service activities that are truly rewarding. Because of this we decided to volunteer at Westminster Oaks, a retirement home. Another officer and I visited the home in order to talk to the volunteer coordinator, Pat Douglas, about what we could do. Together we decided that a monthly party for any resident celebrating a birthday in that particular month was a great idea. We would invite family members of those celebrating a birthday, have cake, and play games. Each party would have a theme. We scheduled the first party for August 23rd. We decided on a "Safari" theme.

Soon this day arrived. We decorated for the party and about a half an hour later our guests began arriving. There were six birthdays in the month of August that we needed to recognize. Once our thirty guests arrived we sang Happy Birthday to the guests of honor. It was after this that we began playing games. Pat, the volunteer coordinator, had found a game with four elephant masks. The object of the game was to be the first elephant to get three rings around the trunk of the mask. Each elephant was designated a certain color and the residents were told to cheer for their favorite color. We had the best time watching this. Everyone was cheering for an elephant and having a great time doing it. We then had cake and "Jungle Juice." After the refreshments were served we sat with the guests and just talked.

Eventually the party began to wind down and residents started to adjourn to the dinner hall. It was then that I realized we had truly found a service project that made a difference in people's lives. A daughter of one of the men celebrating a birthday stayed after the party.

"My father has not left his room for two months. He has been so depressed and introverted. When he got the invitation for this party it was the first time we've seen him excited since he's lived here. He talked about it for two weeks. Thank you for coming and doing this - you've really made a difference." When I told the other officers about this they all felt a sense of accomplishment. After all, our main goal had been fulfilled.

We are all looking forward to next month's party. It is going to be a Hawaiian Luau. Who knows what games Pat will have in store for us. All in all, one thing is for sure: we will be making a difference.