Fall 2007

(Download the .pdf version - Adobe Acrobat Reader needed)

Extreme Parent Volunteer: Bill Allen

Audrey Wilson, Service-Leadership Consultant, Center for Student Leadership, Ethics, &
Public Service

This past December, approximately 250 NC State students and staff demonstrated their love for the community by volunteering their time and energy with ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The show came to Raleigh to surprise the Riggins family, who dedicate countless hours at Building Together Ministries, a local non-profit that serves disadvantaged families. NC State volunteers covered shifts from midnight to 6:00 a.m. moving furniture, cleaning, painting, and serving in any capacity they were needed. This amazing opportunity would never have surfaced without the valuable partnerships between NC State and our students’ families.

Through a professional contact with the builder of the Extreme Makeover home, Bill Allen, proud PACK parent of a junior and co-owner of Mitchell’s Catering and Events, was asked to help recruit volunteers for the project. Immediately, Allen thought of Mike Giancola, director of the Center for Student Leadership, Ethics, & Public Service. Allen met Giancola at Parents’ Orientation and remembered Giancola’s commitment to engaging students in meaningful community service. As a result, students had the opportunity of a lifetime to work on a Hollywood television set and, more importantly, make a difference in the lives of a worthy Raleigh family.

“I can not imagine having done this project without the help of the NC State students,” says Linda Dickert, marketing director for Homelife Communities builders and volunteer coordinator for the project. “The connection Bill Allen made for us was invaluable. The students worked with enthusiasm and great spirit during the toughest shifts - often cold, rainy, and in the mud.”

Bill Allen has also established mutually beneficial relationships with NC State’s Parks, Recreation, and Tourism department. Recently, he employed students from the department to work 150 hours for a local gala he organized. Allen says that the event was simply “Phenomenal! Thanks in great part to the NC State students.”

The relationship between Bill Allen and NC State is one example of how the university’s relationships with parents can shape and enhance the student experience at NC State. For information about how you can get involved with volunteer opportunities at NC State, visit www.ncsu.edu/for_parents or email the Parents’ HelpLine at ncsuparents@ncsu.edu.

* Americana
* Bulletin
* The Nubian Message
* First Year College Parents' newsletter
* The State of Living & Learning
* Technician