September 24, 2007
St. John’s University celebrated its annual Service Day on
Saturday, September 22, with more than 1,400 volunteers reaching
out to local communities in the Vincentian spirit that is so dear
to the University.
On the heels of Learn & Serve Challenge week, in which the
University partnered with institutions around the country to raise
awareness for service-learning, volunteers from the University’s
four metropolitan area locations ventured throughout the community
lending a hand to those most in need.
Queens
Gallery
Staten
Island Gallery
“Today truly defines who we are as a Vincentian University,”
said Rev. Michael
Carroll, C.M., Executive Vice President for Mission and Branch
Campuses at St. John’s. “St. Vincent de Paul believed we
are called to ‘respond to the cry of the poor together,’ and he
would challenge us to continue to seek out ways to serve the poor
and vulnerable. The response to that call was answered today by the
numerous volunteers participating in University Service Day.”
Following morning prayer services at St. John’s Queens and
Staten Island locations, students, faculty, administrators and
alumni ventured out to over 85 different sites throughout the five
boroughs and Nassau and Suffolk Counties, beautifying the
community, working with children and elderly residents and hosting
food drives at neighborhood supermarkets for those in need, in line
with the day’s theme: “What a Difference a Day Makes.”
The Roy Wilkins Park in Jamaica was once again filled with the
St. John’s spirit as volunteers representing University
administration and student organizations, all donning their red and
white, spread out through the park cleaning, organizing and
entertaining with a dance and cheerleading clinic hosted by the Red
Storm spirit groups. The Mixed Chorus and the Voices of
Victory Gospel Choir lightened the mood of nursing home residents
with melodic performances at two different locations, while other
volunteers reached out to the Commodity Supplemental Food program
in Jamaica and to various Catholic Charities locations throughout
the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island.
On Staten Island, teams of volunteers were out visiting with
residents at the Carmel Richmond and Lily Pond Nursing Homes, while
other volunteers worked to remove graffiti with help from the New
York City Police Department. Other participants spent their
time with children at the Boys Hope Girls Hope center and at St.
Mary of the Assumption, each hoping to touch the lives of
others.
In Manhattan, volunteers worked the Soup Kitchen at the Church
of the Nativity and helped deliver hot lunches with the Meals on
Wheels program. Another cohort gathered early on the Queens
campus to prepare hundreds of lunches and headed into Manhattan on
a “Sandwich Drive,” delivering the meals to the homeless throughout
the city.
“We were touched by how many people caught the Vincentian spirit
and wanted to serve this year,” said Sue Scacalossi, Campus
Minister at St. John’s and Coordinator of University Service
Day.
Service Day is a University-wide celebration scheduled each year
on the fourth Saturday in September to coincide with the feast of
St. Vincent de Paul (September 27), and involves the campus
community embodying the University core value of service and its
Vincentian Mission. A small group of University volunteers
participated in the inaugural University Service Day in
2002. Each year the event has grown, culminating in this
year’s record –breaking number of volunteers.
For more information, please contact Elizabeth Reilly, Assistant
Director of Media Relations at St. John’s, by calling (718)
990-5789 or by e-mail to reillye@stjohns.edu.