Last week juniors embarked on the first ever junior service day designed to give juniors a chance to experience Catholic social justice and the future senior service days.
On junior service day, students dispersed all over Dallas, serving at various Catholic elementary schools, nursing homes, food kitchens, and homeless shelters.
Payton Maher ’13 worked at AIDS Resources where he helped prepare and serve lunch to AIDS patients who lack the funds to pay for food due to the mounting cost of their health care.
The center also provides a community aspect for the AIDS patients because many outsiders are hesitant to spend time with them due to their condition. Payton described the experience as “different from what I expected … it was rewarding. It allowed me to get a new perspective on their lives, and realize that they are just like us.” Clearly, spending time with the less fortunate opened the eyes of many students.
The whole day had been a long time in the making. It all began three years ago when Ms. Bianchi, a junior Theology teacher, wanted juniors to experience what she was teaching in the classroom first-hand.
Ms. Bianchi, along with community service directors Rich Perry and Anthony Mattacchione and theology teacher Michele Elchlepp, worked tirelessly to make it an event for the juniors to take part in. After a lot of work the Junior Day of Service was finally put on the calendar this year.
When asked about what goes into setting up Junior Service Day, Mrs. Elchlepp explained that it takes “an incredible amount of work and organization- from writing emails to the faculty requesting chaperones, working with the administration to choose a date in May that best reflected the needs of all involved, to writing the letter of invitation to the parochial schools and then following up on the sites and confirming numbers and transportation.” She went on to mention that “Ms. Bianchi- the brain behind Junior Service Day- led the team through each stage and kept us all on task; basically we will start on next year’s Junior Day of Service before this year closes out.”
In the aftermath of the hectic, yet rewarding day, Junior Service Day seemed to be a success. The juniors seemed to not only enjoy the experience but also gain valuable insights into the lives of the disadvantaged. Their service sites responded with thanks and gratitude for all the hard work, and they look forward to seeing the seniors every Wednesday next year.
If you want to learn more about how you can serve, you can visit: http://www.rcdallas.org/ or http://www.austinstreet.org/index.html
