At the heart of the Saint Joseph鈥檚 experience is the lesson in providing community service.
This spring, the College was formally inducted into the 2013 President鈥檚 Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll by the Corporation for National and Community Service. Awarded annually since 2006, after the outpouring of relief that followed Hurricane Katrina, the distinction pays tribute to the hours of volunteerism of the College鈥檚 students, staff and faculty.
And if we step back just a little bit, we鈥檒l see that the gracious hands of Saint Joseph鈥檚 alumni reach all around the world too, just as the current students do. After examining what the Saint Joseph鈥檚 community does to give back, it鈥檚 no wonder Saint Joseph鈥檚 was one of only three colleges in Maine to receive this national distinction.
There isn鈥檛 always a direct path to leading a life of giving. For Brittany Rauscher 鈥�06, an accounting graduate, her journey almost started off on an entirely different path. 鈥淲hen I was young,鈥� Rauscher says, 鈥淚 measured success by the amount of money you made. I didn鈥檛 know what I wanted to do.鈥� But for this former Monks basketball star, things changed after a trip to Thailand in 2008.
Rauscher was teaching English in South Korea, taking occasional trips to Japan and Thailand, when something happened that stays with her today. 鈥淲e were in Bangkok, and this one boy stuck out to me. Part of his face was burnt and he was asking for money. My friend told me that the money would go to the mafia.
鈥淎nd that set the groundwork.鈥�
From there, Rauscher, who now works as a residential service coordinator at Creative Work Systems in Portland, Maine, set off on what would be one of her most recent international acts of reaching out to a community.
鈥淚n March of 2012 I joined an overlanding truck and traveled throughout 25 different African countries for seven-plus months. I decided to end my travels early 鈥� to volunteer for Soft Power Education, an NGO (non-government organization) based in Jinja, Uganda.
鈥淚 would go to a special needs school where students had mental, developmental or physical disabilities. I worked with one student who had cerebral palsy, picking bottle caps up and putting them into a bowl.鈥�
Rauscher has a lot of strength still. And she鈥檚 keeping her experiences close to her, even today. 鈥淢y time in Korea taught me to be very open with the world and my life,鈥� she says, 鈥渢o take some risks and have more experiences.鈥�
Getting these kinds of experiences at an early age is paramount for Saint Joseph鈥檚 online instructional designer Tony Schwieterman. For the last three years he鈥檚 taken his entire family to the Ronald McDonald House in Portland, Maine. One Saturday every month, Tony, his wife, their two daughters, ages 11 and 13, and 5-year-old son spend a 鈥渢wo- to three-hour shift doing odds jobs, from cleaning to changing over rooms to a yearly Christmas card drive,鈥� he says.
The Ronald McDonald House provides a place for families to stay while their children receive medical attention in town. According to their website, it鈥檚 a 鈥渉ome away from home鈥� for these families. And for the Schwietermans, there鈥檚 a sense of belonging as well.
My children look forward to it,鈥� Schwieterman says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a chore. You can see they appreciate what they鈥檙e doing for others.
鈥淣one of our kids have had extended illnesses, and we were looking for something to get our kids involved with volunteering. This is our way of giving back.鈥�
Volunteering is a family legacy for Tony. And just as he hopes to have an influence on his children, his upbringing had its own way of teaching him the value of donating time.
鈥淢y father passed away when I was 11,鈥� Schwieterman says. After that, he had a Big Brother to guide him. And later, 鈥淢y mother got me started with the Red Cross. We鈥檇 volunteer in nursing homes and long-term care facilities.鈥� For the Schwietermans, family guidance and support go a long way to helping each other and others around them.
Just as Tony Schwieterman and his family work together as a group volunteering their time, groups from campus work together, focusing their energy on a specific goal. Student Education Association of Maine (SEAM) is a student club led by senior Kaela Plante 鈥�13. This past year saw the club host two prominent events for communities in southern Maine.
鈥淔or the third year in a row we took part in an Outreach to Teach event in conjunction with the York County Retired Educators Association,鈥� says Plante. 鈥淥ur project took place at Hollis Elementary School in Hollis, Maine. There were seven Saint Joseph鈥檚 students as well as many retired educators, along with some students from the local high school and even a few teachers from Hollis Elementary.鈥�
The group helped clear multiple gardens on the school鈥檚 grounds. 鈥淚n addition to donating our time,鈥� Plante says, 鈥渨e donated over 800 gently used books and some school supplies that we collected.鈥�
The club鈥檚 latest event happened right on the Saint Joseph鈥檚 campus. This spring, the club hosted a Read Across America night in the Harold Alfond Center. 鈥淲e invited children from the local area to come join us for storytelling, crafts and snacks.鈥� After a reading- and craft-filled night, the students held a book drawing, 鈥渋n which all of the kids left with at least one book,鈥� Plante says.
For as much time students spend on campus providing community service, they spend just as much time volunteering at a distance as well. In 1992, Sr. Sylvia Comer 鈥�62 launched the first Spring Workfest as the College鈥檚 Campus Ministry director. Since then, students have volunteered their time for a week in March every year to provide support to communities throughout New England and Appalachia.
This year, students traveled to Indian Island, Maine, to work at the Penobscot Indian Island Reservation; Flatgap, Ky., to work with the Christian Appalachian Project; Camden, N.J., to work alongside other volunteers at The Romero Center; and to New Rochelle, N.Y., to provide building support with Jim Killoran 鈥�80, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Westchester County.
Students also volunteer their professional and physical support in Haiti and Guatemala every year on the College鈥檚 International Service Trips.
This year saw the largest number of participants since the first trip in 2004, with a total of 40 members from the College participating. In Haiti and Guatemala, they staffed medical clinics, built houses, distributed humanitarian supplies and operated children鈥檚 programs.
In addition to social and medical activities, team members in Haiti conducted workshops in computer, technology and business skills in the village of Blanchard, just a few miles outside of Port au Prince.
鈥淚t is truly life-changing,鈥� says Catherine Carter 鈥�13, 鈥渁nd you return home a different person. It doesn鈥檛 seem at first like what you do there will make a difference, but it does. Being part of something bigger than you鈥檒l know is an incredible feeling, and I think everyone should experience that.鈥�
All of these activities and more are supported by the staff and Director Frank Daggett 鈥�80, 鈥�07 at the College鈥檚 Mercy Center. Formed in 2010, the Center provides opportunities for students to integrate religious and moral principles with their academic work both on and off campus. The Center鈥檚 motto, 鈥淪ervice Leadership and Learning,鈥� is a true reflection of the many great opportunities they provide for students.
As a representative for American citizens abroad and a champion for women鈥檚 heart health, Mikell Reed Carroll 鈥�99 works with a community that is both always with her and everywhere else at the same time.
As a former employee of the U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua, Reed Carroll 鈥渨orked in the American Citizen Services section of the Embassy,鈥� she says. 鈥淥ne of my specialties was working with American citizens incarcerated in Nicaragua.鈥� Reed Carroll, who also holds a Juris Doctor, 鈥渢raveled to jails and prisons all over the country, visiting American prisoners to ensure that their human rights were not being violated, and sometimes attending their trials. I often brought them hot meals purchased with my own money鈥�. I also worked to procure nearly $2,000 in private medical donations to assist prisoners with medical issues that were not being met within the prison system.鈥�
She is also an official Ambassador for the American Heart Institute. 鈥淚n my mother鈥檚 family, 100 percent of the women died from heart disease, and only one woman on my mother鈥檚 side has survived past the age of 60,鈥� Reed Carroll says. 鈥淢y mother had a heart attack at age 53 on New Year鈥檚 Day 2009. She survived because of organizations like the American Heart Association鈥�.鈥� The second runner up at the 2013 Mrs. D.C. America Pageant, she鈥檚 led public awareness campaigns on heart disease, 鈥渉osting several educational and outreach events [and] raising money for the D.C. Heart Walk.鈥�
At the core of those who volunteer their time lies an innate, sometimes unconscious desire to connect with another person just like the volunteer 鈥� whether this is apparent to them or not. Just as Mikell Reed Carroll connects with fellow Americans or those at risk for heart disease, so too do the students who participate in Saint Joseph鈥檚 Midnight Run each year find a connection with others.
On a freezing, February night, as the winds whip down the boulevards and alleys of New York City, a van full of Saint Joseph鈥檚 students, clothing, food and coffee arrives to make their rounds to a series of drop points in Manhattan.
鈥淲e left campus around 12:30 p.m.,鈥� says Social Justice & Leadership Coordinator Kathryn Cody. 鈥淪eventeen students participated, and (Mercy Center Director) Frank Daggett and I drove the vans.
鈥淲e arrived first at South Presbyterian Church in Dobb鈥檚 Ferry to drop off our sleeping bags, put on two big pots of coffee, and do a reflection on homelessness and why people came on the trip.鈥� What happens next is a series of rapidly unfolding moments of community outreach.
A volunteer group that organizes donations to the New York homeless population since 1984, Midnight Run allows students to visit locations in New York City to distribute food, clothing and hot drinks 鈥渘ot so much as an act of handing things down to people,鈥� says Cody, 鈥渂ut as a handing of things over to people.鈥� This year included four different locations across the island of Manhattan.
Can you separate education from community service projects? 鈥淚t鈥檚 something that can and should go hand-in-hand,鈥� says Cody. 鈥淲hat you experience in your community outreach should have an impact on the way you learn in the classroom, whether it makes you more grateful for the opportunity and work harder, or makes you look at the information more critically.
鈥淗opefully it鈥檚 not community outreach and education, but a constant integration of the two.鈥�
Community Service by the Numbers in 2012
88,000听Pounds of food聽served or donated by Catherine鈥檚 Cupboard Food Pantry in Standish
400听Individuals served聽by students, faculty and staff over Spring Break Workfest
800听Saint Joseph鈥檚 students engaged聽in service learning and co-curricular community service projects
12,856听Hours dedicated聽to community service projects by students
1,500听Middle and high school students聽Michial Russell, Pearson鈥檚 Town Farm manager, instructed in organic garden design and care
Jim Killoran 鈥�80: Giving Them His All
In a matter of days after Hurricane Sandy ravished the greater New York area in 2012, Jim Killoran headed down from New Rochelle, N.Y., to Breezy Point, on the western tip of the Rockaway peninsula in Queens, to begin what would ultimately turn into 38 straight days of providing relief. With contractor trash bags in hand, Killoran set out to do what he does best: serve others for the greater good. According to one report, by December 2012 he had cleared out over 220 affected homes. The workload has only recently begun to balance itself.
鈥淚鈥檓 a tumbleweed,鈥� Killoran says. 鈥淕od throws me into the next disaster and neighborhood.鈥� Killoran鈥檚 worked with Habitat for Humanity since 1986, from Paterson, N.J., to New York City and now in New Rochelle, N.Y., where he鈥檚 the executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Westchester.
Twenty-seven years later, after at least four natural disasters, where 鈥渆very day is like six months,鈥� Killoran still works at a daunting pace to provide as much support as he can, along with the help community members and students like Saint Joseph鈥檚 very own who travel down to New York each spring break for the annual Workfest week. 鈥淭rue education is to liberate students, to have them think of what they can do,鈥� Killoran says. 鈥淐ommunity service is the essence of life 鈥� we鈥檙e all here on Earth to help one another. That鈥檚 the foundation of the Saint Joseph鈥檚 education 鈥� that community service is important.鈥�
In recognition of Killoran鈥檚 unyielding dedication to community service, the College will confer on him an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree at May鈥檚 commencement exercises.
It鈥檚 a fitting tribute to Killoran. 鈥淪aint Joseph鈥檚 became a family for me,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey encouraged me. I鈥檓 just a guy running around in construction boots.鈥�
by David Svenson
