AllMovie

Daria (voice of Tracy Grandstaff) gets an object lesson in perkiness while the Fashion Club struggles to get the hang of charity work in this episode of the animated MTV series Daria. When Ms. Li (voice of Nora Laudani) commands the students of Lawndale High to "volunteer" for community service during an event called "Awareness of Others Week," Daria gets stuck reading to seniors at a nursing home, as do Brittany (voice of Janie Mertz) and Kevin (voice of Marc Thompson), who are shocked to learn that the project doesn't involve hanging out with upperclassmen. The dim quarterback and his perky cheerleader girlfriend are big hits with the residents, but Daria's affectless voice and eccentric taste in literature -- Allen Ginsberg's Howl, for instance -- don't earn her any fans. Eventually, after a humiliating reading lesson from Brittany during which the girl's underaged stepmom and blowhard dad are introduced, Daria finds a connection with at least one nursing-home resident. Meanwhile, Jane (voice of Wendy Hoopes) gets into trouble while conducting unorthodox art projects at the hospital children's ward, and the Fashion Club strikes out in its attempt to bring high-class clothes to the homeless.