July 28, 2009
When a new St. John’s University student steps on campus for the
first time, the University instills in that student its mission of
charity and service to the disadvantaged and underserved. In
addition to explaining the benefits and rewards of community
service to new students, the University gives them the chance to
make an impact of their own during New Student Orientation.
Photo Gallery
This
three-day orientation which provides students an in-depth
introduction to the various elements that make up the St. John’s
experience includes Mission Day – a day for students to engage in a
five-hour community service project.
Every Tuesday morning throughout the summer, groups of St. John’s
students board buses and set out to participate in community
service projects throughout the metropolitan area. The students are
involved in every aspect of service, from stocking the food pantry
at St. John’s Bread and Life soup kitchen to watching children at
Momma’s House, a home for young mothers and their children in Long
Island.
“Even though doing community service is nothing new to me, I’m
excited to get another opportunity to help out in some way,” said
future education major Tayana Pearce on the July 21 bus ride to Handcrafting
Justice, one of the community service sites where St. John’s
students serve during orientation.
No
stranger to Handcrafting Justice – a project run by the Sisters of
the Good Shepherd – St. John’s has worked with the organization for
over 10 years, providing student volunteers and academic-service
learning programs that benefit the organization.
Headquartered in Astoria, New York, Handcrafting Justice works with
women in the developing world to market their handcrafts in the
United States while at the same time raising awareness of the root
causes of poverty, gender inequality and social issues. By
partnering with women from countries like Ethiopia and Thailand,
Handcrafting Justice seeks to promote human dignity and justice by
creating opportunities for economic and social transformation
around the world.
“We have such a small staff so we rely heavily on our volunteers to
help us on the back-end with getting all of the products organized
and ready to sell. Without the help of St. John’s students and
other volunteers we would never get to the point where we could
begin marketing these beautiful hand-made products that these women
worked so hard to create,” said Maureen McGowan, RGS, Director of
Handcrafting Justice.
The
group of 20 students spent the day working side by side organizing
products in the stock room, placing price tags on the items and
packaging them to be sold at parishes and churches throughout the
tri-state area in order to help provide women in impoverished
countries with a sustainable living for themselves and their
families.
Frank Peluso, a future education major, said of his experience at
Handcrafting Justice, “It was truly eye-opening. Throughout
orientation we are given all kinds of free stuff for school, but
volunteering at Handcrafting makes you realize that there are
people out there who don’t even have the opportunity to go to
school. You begin to appreciate just how lucky you really
are.”
On Staten Island, the economic downturn has taken a toll on several
religious-affiliated grammar schools in the area and St. John’s has
come to their aid. Four such schools, whose populations include
many low-income households and immigrant populations, have been
identified by St. John’s and will benefit from the student service
during orientation. Each student will visit one of the four
selected grammar schools on the North Shore of Staten Island to
repaint walls, remove graffiti, organize libraries and make other
small, but much needed structural repairs to each of the
campuses.
Making a long-term difference in the lives of others stems from
the teachings of St. John’s founder St. Vincent de Paul. By having
students serve during their orientation, the University is
introducing them to their role in the newly-established Vincentian
Institute for Social Action (VISA).
VISA, launched by the University to more visibly embed St. John’s
Catholic and Vincentian mission into the educational experience of
its students, provides students with an organizational focus for a
variety of new and ongoing programs so faculty and students can
work together to explore the causes of and develop solutions for
poverty and social injustice throughout the world.
For more information about New Student Orientation or the
Vincentian Institute for Social Action please visit the
Orientation and VISA web
sites. For information about becoming a volunteer for Handcrafting
Justice, please visit the Handcrafting
Justice web site.