Suffolk University students, faculty and staff gave back to Boston through various acts of community service April 4.
This year marks the 27th year that Suffolk’s Center for Community Engagement has hosted Service Day. This is a whole day in which the Suffolk community gives back to the community they exist inside of; the Greater Boston area.
For this year’s Service Day, they were able to offer 28 volunteer shifts and partnered with 19 different local organizations.
The 19 organizations included: American Red Cross Blood Drive, Animal Rescue League of Boston, Community Servings, Cradles to Crayons, Eastie Farms, Greater Boston Food Bank, JumpStart, New England Center and Home for Veterans, Ronald McDonald House Charities of New England, Room to Grow, Rosie’s Place, St. Francis House, Suffolk CARES Pantry, The Emerald Necklace Conservancy, The West End Museum, Tree Eastie, Victory Programs, Women’s Lunch Place and The Paulist Center Wednesday Night Supper Club.
Service Day was sponsored and made possible by various clubs and organizations on the Suffolk campus, including: Athletics, Women’s Soccer, SGA, Suffolk INTO, Planned Parenthood Generation Action, McNair Scholars, Red Cross Club, CAS Dean’s Office, Tri-Alpha First-Gen Honors Society, Center for Learning and Academic Success, Circle K, Office of External Affairs, Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion Peer Educators, Black Law Student Association and Sawyer Business School Graduate Programs.
Ava Klemm is a sophomore biology major and political science minor. She is one of the student leaders for Service Day and has been involved with the CCE since the fall semester when she helped with Service Week — a week-long version of Service Day.
As a community partnership scholar, Klemm had to help manage the communication between the CCE and over 150 organizations to make Service Day happen. They originally planned to have 300 spots available for volunteers and managed to fill 200 of them. This led to the cutting down from 30 shifts to 28, but Klemm still felt that the day was “really successful.”
“Since I’ve put so much time into it, it’s really cool to see students come do this,” said Klemm.
Klemm volunteered at the New England Center and Home for Veterans on Service Day and served dinner to the veterans who were at the center.
Chelsea Jones is a service learning fellow with the CCE and has been for the last two years. Her role within Service Day is to build and support the connections between Suffolk and the local organizations.
This year, they were able to double the involvement from students, which led to not only more service trips being available but also more organizations being included. Jones attributed this expansion to the students and their wanting to be involved as well as word of mouth between each other.
“Right now is a very special and delicate time that we’re in and to show up for our community partners and make an impact to our local Boston area, it just means a little bit more,” said Jones.
CCE grad fellow and Suffolk graduate student Komal Pandit was involved with the planning of the various alternate breaks that Suffolk offers to students. This is her second year of playing a part in Service Day. This year she worked and volunteered with the Suffolk CARES Pantry, which she said allowed her to meet new people and new faculty while also providing for her community.
“It’s a great way to choose a volunteer project that you’re passionate about and doing it with your peers at Suffolk,” said Pandit.
Justine Morgan is the Suffolk CARES pantry coordinator and a case manager, but she was with the CCE before she got involved with Suffolk CARES. She has been with Suffolk CARES for nearly three years and has been involved with Service Day ever since.
For their Service Day shift, Morgan first had student volunteers learn about the pantry and the impact that food insecurity has on college students. Then, the volunteers helped restock the shelves in the pantry and process some orders. Morgan goes through and removes the personal information of the students placing the orders to keep the anonymity between the volunteers and the other students.
“People can see [the importance]. People can see the impact it does have on our community,” said Morgan.
Allison Smith is a sophomore majoring in sociology and was one of the Service Day volunteers. This is her second year being involved in Service Day, through her volunteering last year with the Suffolk CARES pantry, Smith was able to secure a full-time volunteer position with them this year.
“It’s a really good opportunity to find things that you’re passionate about and learn how to get involved with them and make a difference in the community,” said Smith.
This year, Smith’s volunteer shift was with the Greater Boston Food Bank to sort food items and provide general help.
Lindsay D’Eon is a freshman psychology major who was involved with Ram Academy and went on an Alternate Spring Break trip this year, which made her familiar with the CCE and led to her involvement with Service Day. D’Eon was a part of the Community Servings in Jamaica Plains, where the service group packaged food to be distributed to those in need.
D’Eon felt motivated to volunteer since she gets to live a more “privileged” life of going to college and getting an education and she wants to give to those who don’t have the same opportunities she does.
Jones highlighted the importance of community service and programs like Service Day, emphasizing that it is more than just a day.
“It goes further than just today. I think that many hands make the work light,” said Jones
For all the organizations and sponsors that Suffolk worked with, Klemm said that their work was essential to making Service Day possible.
“Their work is not unappreciated. They are more than just a number to us,” said Klemm.
