Do you like children and have an interest in volunteering? Hope for Relief is a volunteer-based tutoring service aimed at helping underprivileged London school kids.

Program co-founder and third-year Western student Mike Ballantine is looking for UWO students to lend a hand.

“We’re always looking for Western volunteer tutors to help out with students,” Ballantine said, noting students range from grade one to eight.

The organization was founded by Ballantine and fellow Western student Dave Sussman in 2003. Jeremy Musinowitz, a student at Western and Fanshawe college, has then joined as a director.

“People don’t realize that, even in affluent neighbourhoods, people can’t afford things they need... To be able to give these kids a leg up would be a great thing,” Ballantine said .

Ballantine said he plans to run the tutoring sessions in Western libraries, or in public libraries in London.

More information about volunteering for Hope for Relief is available at www.hopeforrelief.org.

— Mitch Tucker

with files from Ravi Amarnath