Student serves others well

A Colony 10th-grader is taking to the Internet to help various Valley nonprofit organizations, as she was recently accepted to participate in the SERVEnet organization.

After her application to SERVEnet -- which is affiliated with the Youth Service America organization -- was approved, Amber Sawyer wasted no time in jumping in and helping others.

"I've already talked to a bunch of nonprofit organizations in the Valley. I post volunteer opportunities on the Internet to help match people with organizations," Sawyer said.

As part of the SERVEnet program, Sawyer finds out about different volunteer opportunities and then posts them, sorted by zip code, on the SERVEnet Web site, www.servenet.org. She is responsible for maintaining the site and keeping it up to date.

"It took me all summer to get it up and going," she said. "You have to have good computer skills to keep it going."

Sawyer also has been busy putting up posters around her school, and she said she is encouraged by the responses of both the Web site and the posters.

"At school, we have a program where you can get a high school credit for 120 hours of community service work," Sawyer said. "That's how I first got interested with it. My ELP teacher, Mr. Rose, first showed me the application and told me I should apply.

"I've had people call me and come to me personally to see how they can help or get their organization listed," she said.

Helping others comes naturally to Sawyer. She has volunteered her time for various organizations, and she recently completed her biggest service project to date.

"I volunteered 91 hours at the Wasilla Public Library this summer," she said.

She helped the Wasilla Public Library with its media guide, and also participated in the summer reading program and shelved books throughout the summer. Some of that work resulted in her receiving her Silver Award through Girl Scouts, another organization Sawyer participates in, and has for years. In August, she spent three and a half weeks in Japan as part of a Girl Scout exchange.

"We raised enough money to be able to stay for an extra week," she said. "There were 10 girls from the Valley. On the way back, we had an extra day in Hawaii, but everyone was so tired we just wanted to get back home."

Nationally, there are more than 1,000 SERVEnet ambassadors such as Sawyer. The organization tries to cover every zip code in America, to ensure nonprofit organizations and volunteers can work together to help communities.