European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 20, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Volunteers giving yuppies a Good namely Jocelyn Noveck associated press it is 7 . In new York and dozens of poor and homeless people Are filing into a Manhattan soup Kitchen for warmth for a hot meal a and for a greeting from an unlikely maitre d. He is a Young banker in suit tie and apron. Quot How Are you doing this morning Quot he asks. Quot that gentleman Over there will seat you right  he Points to another Young banker in red Power tie and shiny Black shoes busily inspecting tables to make sure there s enough Coffee. Nearby a business consultant and a to production assistant serve from huge vats of Oatmeal. Others make hundreds of Peanut butter sandwiches for bag lunches. By 8 30 ., breakfast is Over at the soup Kitchen run by Central synagogue and the Volunteer waiters Are off to their real jobs. Similar scenes take place in dozens of places across the City these Days not Only in soup kitchens but in Hospital wards old age Homes and Community centers in poor neighbourhoods. More and More new yorkers Are turning out to help the homeless sick and poor Charity organizations say. Their motivation is a mixture of wanting to do something themselves about growing social problems and concern about the limits of what government is doing. At the same time a new Type of Volunteer has emerged the Young working professional. Encouraged by groups that Cater to their tight schedules and varying time constraints increasing numbers of these people Are substituting an occasional stint at the Hospital for their evening jog or they Are spending an afternoon working with kids instead of watching football. Quot i d lived in new York for All these years and i have this High paying Job and it s gotten so bad in the City Quot said Jerry Wattenberg a 24-year-old trader at Goldman Sachs who spends every Friday morning at the synagogue soup Kitchen. Quot i just Felt i ought to do something. And the effect is so immediate people Are cold and hungry they get warm and fed. They May not hug me but it s  aside from a sense of accomplishment Many working people get involved to feel some tie to the Community says Winifred Brown executive director of the mayor s Volunteer action Center. Quot these people work Long hours in an office and have very Little time to connect with the City around them Quot said Brown whose Agency matches volunteers with up to 5,000 organizations in the City. Quot this Way they can do it with a minimum time  Brown says close to 60 percent of new volunteers Are Ages 15 to 40 and work full time. A growing number Are men. And at a time of crisis in the City business is booming in 1991, some 4,000 new volunteers came in a 35 percent increase from 1990.readers�?T action Lin per diem not paid for Hospital transfers q be i can t seem to obtain a straight answer regarding permissive temporary duty entitlements. On aug. 8, 1991,1 left for 10 Days to admit my son to a civilian Hospital in los Angeles. Arrangements and expenses were made by Harvard medical based in Heidelberg. Even though the trip was paid for i was told by s-4 that i should still be entitled to the per diem rate. S-4 said a fund site number does t apply and finance won t process it without one. My unit refused to allow use of its own fund site number and the Hospital won t give one because my son was t transported by military Means. It was also suggested before i left that i apply for a non medical attendant status but that was refused because it was the end of the fiscal year and funds were not available. I know others have received this entitlement for going to the military Hospital in Lan Stuhl. Am i disqualified because Harvard paid for it or because its a civilian Hospital i Don t know if it makes a difference or not but champs civilian health and medical program of the uniformed services is covering All medical fees. Spec. Loretta Johnson Ludwig Surg Germany the plight of homeless people has prompted pangs of conscience in some Young professionals. Not the trend is not unique to new York. Quot nationally the concept of service toward Community has increased Quot says Virginia Hodgkinson of Independent sector a Washington based umbrella group of 850 Volunteer organizations. Quot people Are seeing need around them and trying to  in a 1990 Gallup poll conducted for Independent sector 54 percent of 2,727 people questioned said they performed some kind of Volunteer work that year up from 45 percent in 1988. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percent. One group taking advantage of that trend is new York cares formed five years ago to match Young professionals with Volunteer projects. Operating from a cramped walk up on Manhattan s East Side the group now manages an  of 1,000 volunteers in any Given month. Quot business is Way up Quot says Kenneth Adams the 31-year-old executive director. Adams says new York cares has been successful because it makes Volunteer activity Quot user Friendly Quot for Busy professionals. Projects Are scheduled for evenings before work or on weekends. The average time commitment is one Day or evening a month. The vast majority of new York cares volunteers Are College educated Ages 25 to 35 and have no children. Often they learn about the group through colleagues at maj. Gen. Michael j. Scott jr., commander medical corps Headquarters 7th medical come replies you re Correct that champs covers medical expenses Bojt not transportation lodging or other incidental costs. Harvard medical from within the funds allotted to it from champs for medical care funds the transportation of the child and one or two parents. They Are not obliged to do so but feel it increases the number of patients they receive which is important in a profit making corporation. Your unit apparently gave you what is informally known As permissive temporary duty so that it would not count against your regular leave. This is within the Purview of your commander. Neither your unit nor the  medical department can expend appropriated funds for lodging meals and incidentals. When a patient is being transferred from a military medical treatment facility to another medical facility either military or civilian and the physician determines that it is necessary to the patient to have a non medical attendant that attendant is placed on temporary duty orders. Note that it is Only for the advantage of the patient that this is done. Even then prolonged living work. The group goes to companies and sets up employee projects. Four evenings a week new York cares holds an orientation session. On a recent thursday at 6 30 p.m., about 10 people attended. Staffer Neil Tuch stands before a huge Board listing projects Reading to poor children visiting an aids Ward renovating abandoned housing. Quot hands on is our theme Quot Tuch tells the newcomers. Quot we wont have you stuffing  describing one program with children he counsels volunteers to bring a lunch the kids like. Quot no pasta salad  the next morning at the soup Kitchen business consultant Michael Loeb 43, is spending his first Day As a new York cares Volunteer. So far so Good. Quot some guests Are even saying thanks Quot he says with a smile. Next to him Robin Freeman explains How she came to be lading Oatmeal at Dawn. Quot i was disturbed by stepping Over homeless people As i walked into the subway Quot says the 25-year old who works in to production. Quot sometimes they d ask me for Money but i said no because i was afraid they weren t going to use it for food. Now i know where my Effort is  Quot and besides they re not just faceless people for me anymore Quot she says listing her regular guests Quot they re Andre Max Louise Crystal and  expenses upon arrival Are not authorized. Monies spent for non medical attendants Are paid by open allotment and Are not affected by fiscal year constraints. Patient representatives and health benefits advisers Are available to patients in  hospitals and clinics. Any member of the Community wishing to obtain accurate information on entitlements is encouraged to seek advice rather than depend on private for profit individuals or corporations to write us readers action line is the readers a court of last resort Quot striving to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or questions about policies and guidelines when other avenues for answers Are not readily available. If you have a question and Don t know where to turn for the answer write to readers action line co the stars and stripes unit 29480, Apo a 09211. All letters must be signed and preference will be Given to those seeking information of general interest to our readers. Page 16 a the stars and stripes Friday March 20, 1992