NHS Student Becomes Landmark Volunteer

By Larissa Lytwyn

Elsa Gillis, 14, of Sandy Hook, daughter of Kurt and Susan Gillis, is spending two weeks as a Landmark Volunteer with the multicultural Wagon Road Camp, a group that will be doing camp beautification and maintenance such as flower planting, fence painting, and barn chores. She will also work with campers.

An honors student at Newtown High School, Elsa is a member of the school’s chapter of Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD), a member of the Drama Club and volleyball team. She is also an active part of Newtown Youth Creating AIDS Awareness for Peers (NYCAAP), an organization that seeks to increase information about AIDS and HIV within a peer group system. In addition, Elsa takes voice lessons and instruction in both jazz and tap dancing.

Landmark Volunteers, based in Sheffield, Mass., is a nonprofit service organization offering high-school students and adults the opportunity to perform community service at one of 65 nationally recognized historical, cultural and environmental or social service institutions located throughout the country. Now in its 11th year, Landmark Volunteers provides each host organization with an entire team of hardworking young people eager to accomplish a great deal of much-needed manual labor.

Established by the Children’s Aid Society of New York City, the Wagon Road Camp is a multicultural camp offering outward-bound activities, athletics, horsemanship, theater arts, nature and ecology studies, and fine arts to economically disadvantaged children. Situated on 55 acres of land in Chappaqua, N.Y., it provides a complete day camping experience for hundreds of children each year. Facilities include an Arts and Crafts and Drama building, heated swimming pool, athletic fields, barn and farmyard animals, and a pond for fishing.

Further information about Landmark Volunteers may be obtained by visiting the website at www.volunteers.com or emailing Landmark@volunteers.com or calling 413-229-0255.