On a Sunday afternoon in Baton Rouge, LSU students gathered around to play bingo and share stories with senior citizens, who look forward to their monthly visits.
Project 225 at LSU lets student volunteers dedicate time to building relationships with senior residents, creating moments of connection that bridge generations.
The program began in 2017 as a student-led initiative sponsored by the LSU Ogden Honors College. It aims to connect students with community organizations across Baton Rouge.
One of its longest branches, the Senior Citizen Outreach Program, partners with Volunteers of America to host monthly activities at Oak Park Plaza, a senior living community.
Cindy Seghers, director of career development in the Ogden Honors College and faculty advisor for Project 225, said the program was created to give students opportunities for long-term service in the Baton Rouge community.
“As our cohort expanded, we realized we were doing a lot about leadership, but not as much about long-term service,” Seghers said. “[The program] is a great way for people to cultivate leadership and understand volunteer management, not just volunteering.”
There are currently six different branches under the Project 225 umbrella: The Senior Citizen Outreach program, Volunteers in Public Schools, Upward Bound, Companion Animal Alliance, Adelante and Food Insecurity. Each branch allows students to volunteer based on their interest.
Honors students can learn about the branches and sign up during the honors involvement fair. The involvement fair is usually hosted on the first floor of the Honors college and the branches will host tables and answer any questions students may have.
“I met Emily Demps there, who was running the branch at the time,” said Madelyn Phillips, program director of SCOP. “Freshman year, I started volunteering at a Service Saturday and I loved it so much I told her ‘Whatever you need help with, I want to do.’”
Students take center stage when it comes to how leadership is structured. Each program has a director and then directly under them are student managers. Managers are in charge of recruiting, training and retaining volunteers.
“Most of our branch managers have started as volunteers,” Seghers said. “They begin by volunteering in a program, then become co-director, and eventually move into the branch manager role.”
That was the case for Philips, who began volunteering as a freshman before stepping into leadership within Project 225. Including being one of the co-founders of the university’s Food Recovery Network.
The Senior Citizen Outreach Program focuses on building relationships with the residents at Oak Park Plaza, a subsidized housing community for senior citizens that is owned and operated by Volunteers of America.
Sophia Gutierrez, a current officer for SCOP, said the organization aims to create a welcoming and relaxed environment for both students and residents.
“What I like about it is that it’s very relaxed and casual,” Gutierrez said. “That’s really good for college students, especially honors students who are often involved in a lot of different activities.”
Volunteers organize events roughly once a month, ranging from bingo nights and card games to seasonal celebrations. A crowd favorite is the Super Bowl watch parties, which the program looks forward to throwing every year.
“We bring food, watch the game and just hang out together,” Gutierrez said. “Before the Super Bowl event, we actually explain football to some of our volunteers so they know what’s going on when we watch the game with the residents.”
While some programs focus on providing resources, Gutierrez said the outreach program prioritizes social connection.
“We’re more about emotional needs, social needs and the need for community,” Gutierrez said. “It’s about making those connections.”
A previous version of this story misspelled the first name of Madelyn Phillips as Madeline. It also incorrectly named Emily Demps as Emily Gibbs.
