While most ULM students are looking to get involved on campus, the city of Monroe is home to several major community service programs that offer students a real opportunity to help someone in need.

One of those programs is Pilots for Patients; its mission is to offer air transportation to patients who need treatment.

Founders Wayne Petrus and Phillipp Thomas had both flown for a similar program in Texas. When they realized a need for a Louisiana based program in 2008, they founded Pilots for Patients.

Since then, they have flown more than 600 patients to hospitals as far away as Tennessee.

“We’re constantly recruiting pilots. We need pilots,” said Petrus.

The pilots pay for the majority of the expenses along with donations from local groups so the trips are free for all patients.

Some ULM students in aviation have volunteered, and Hope Anderson, a senior mass communications major from Monroe, was also a spokeswoman for Pilots for Patients.

Her best experience was when she flew to Texas on one of the missions with an ill baby.

“It gave me a different perspective and it was incredible,” she said.

Anderson continued, “Pilots for Patients impacts lives in Louisiana every single day and being a small part of it has changed me for the better.”

A more widespread program that has a lot of involvement from ULM students is the Big Brother Big Sister program in Monroe.

The mission of the program is to match mentors with children to help open up new possibilities for the students.

The Monroe organization keeps in contact with schools and when a teacher or parent refers a child, it tries to find a suitable mentor.

Ken Page, a local case manager said, “We do get a lot of involvement from ULM students.”

He said that mentors often visit the children at school to hang out, play games or sports and to talk.

Finally, the Ronald McDonald House established a home in a renovated church in Monroe.

The home, founded in 1985 and funded by local donations, is for families who have a sick child being treated in Monroe.

Local, Pam Kearney, is the house manager, and says that they usually have four or five students from ULM volunteering regularly.

Aside from that, she pointed out that, “Sometimes sororities or fraternities come and clean the house, which helps us out a whole lot.”

Students can volunteer at any of these organizations by going to their websites to become part of the positive impact they have in Monroe and the surrounding area.