SOAP gives new alternatives to LHS students.
By: Lea Kahn
Like all Lawrence High School students, Chaz Sumners had to fulfill five hours of community service each semester of his junior year in order to graduate.
So Chaz, like many of his classmates, decided to spend some time putting books back on the shelves at the Lawrence Branch of the Mercer County Library System.
"I went to the library for my first set of community service hours," said Chaz, who is now a senior. "There were 25 or 30 kids there (doing the same thing). Five hours per semester is a lot of time for community service. The problem is, everyone was going to one place. It got to be senseless."
That’s when it occurred to Chaz and his classmate, Michael Warren, that perhaps there are other ways that students could satisfy that requirement while also helping people and having fun.
The two boys quickly formed the Society of Adolescent Philanthropists or SOAP, for short. The group is dedicated to finding options for community service for all Lawrence High School students.
The concept of a student group that is dedicated to providing community service is not a new one, Michael said. He recalled some high school students helping out at his elementary school in Lawrence. But that effort had "died down" in recent years until SOAP was formed, he said.
SOAP members are easy to spot in school, said Chaz and Michael. They are the ones who are wearing special sweatshirts that spell out the acronym SOAP Society of Adolescent Philanthropists.
"We liked the acronym ‘SOAP,’" Michael said. "We came up with acronym before we came up with the words. ‘Philanthropist’ is really a misnomer. We are not that wealthy, but it had a nice ring to it."
SOAP has nearly 50 members mostly juniors and seniors, with a smattering of freshmen and sophomores, said Chaz and Michael. The response to the club, which was formed last year, has been "enormous," they said.
The group is a student-led organization, Chaz and Michael said. Although there are certain activities that the members have traditionally undertaken, SOAP is always open to suggestions from its members, they emphasized. Students who suggest an activity are placed in charge of it, they said.
Since SOAP was organized, the student philanthropists have spent their time helping out at annual field day events at the elementary schools, Chaz said. They also have spent time at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen.
Monday morning’s Community Service Fair, held in connection with the school district’s Martin Luther King birthday celebration at Lawrence High School, was organized by SOAP. The Community Service Fair highlighted the various volunteer groups.
SOAP members also put aside time to help out at the Lawrenceville Elementary School’s after-school program. Earlier this year, SOAP members built and staffed the Halloween haunted house at the Lawrence Intermediate School at the request of school officials.
"Community service doesn’t have to be cleaning up a highway," Michael said. "It can be fun. I remember helping out at field day at LIS. It’s really rewarding to see children have as much fun (at field day activities) as I did back then."
"There are such a myriad of activities, (SOAP members) can find something they like to do," Chaz added. "They will find that it is fun to do things. People think of community service as labor, but it’s doing something that you are good at or that you like to do and you are helping someone else.
"I like doing community service," he said. "It’s just plain fun. You can have a good time and you are helping people. It’s the best of both worlds. If I could get a job like that, I would never really work. I would be having fun."
Although Chaz and Michael will be graduating in the spring, SOAP is poised to continue in the next school year. It will be led by incoming co-presidents Parteek Bansal and Andrew Dodemaide, who are both juniors.
Parteek, who describes himself as a "people person," said there are plans to expand SOAP next school year. The group may reach out to the Lawrence Senior Center and the St. Lawrence Rehabilitation Center, he said.
For more information, students may visit SOAP’s Web site at www.soaplhs.cjb.net.

