By going out into the community and volunteering, Warsaw Community High School students Friday realized what a difference they can make. “It’s really awesome. Students get to go out in the community and help anyway we can. We do make a difference,” junior Finn Torpy said of “Bringing Light Into the Tiger Zone.” BLITZ is an annual event, sponsored by the student council, where students leave school in the afternoon to volunteer at various locations around the community. This year, approximately 100 students left at 2 p.m. and volunteered at Our Father’s House, Miller’s Merry Manor, Grace Village, The Meadows, Mason Health & Rehab and Isaiah 11 Animal Rescue & Rehab until about 4:30 p.m. “We are trying to enrich the lives of other people,” teacher Angie Heinsman said. “We have 100 students volunteering to try and make people’s lives a little brighter.” In 2012, Torpy volunteered at the Baker Youth Club. Yesterday, he was cleaning windows, tables and chairs at Miller’s. “It’s a different experience both times. It’s two different ways of helping,” he stated. “I think it’s a great opportunity,” junior Kalea Amiss said. “You get to go out and meet other people.” Junior Miranda Domiano volunteered for BLITZ for the first time this year. “Because it’s an opportunity to get out during the school day and go into the community and do something. It’s a different learning experience,” she said. Nichole LaLonde, junior, said she volunteered to work at the nursing home because it gave her a good view of the community she wouldn’t otherwise see on her own. “It’s a good cause and I like to volunteer,” said junior Alyson Fosnaugh, a three-time BLITZ veteran. “Helping out the community feels good.” She was cleaning the garden at Our Father’s House Friday. In previous years she’s helped at Miller’s and at the high school. “I did it because I saw it as an opportunity to help my community with my peers, as well as being a member of the student council,” sophomore Evan Hansen said.
