Students put in over 2,500 hours on service day

by Addy Borgmeier

October 21 was a day dedicated to service at area nonprofits and local schools.  By participating in the annual Christ the King service day students receive five hours of service each year.

 “We will serve at over 25 locations this year with well over 500 people volunteering,” Ms. Poppe said. “It really is an amazing thing to see.”

A lot of groups helped with outdoor cleanup work at places like Tracy Aviary, Tree Utah, Jordan River Commission, IRC New Roots Farm, Wasatch Community Gardens, Mt. Calvary Cemetery, and the Carmelite Monastery.

Some helped at local schools like the Madeleine Choir School, and for youth programs like Sunnyvale After School Center, Youthlinc, and Girls on the Run. 

And others went to places that serve vulnerable populations like Habitat for Humanity, Neighborhood House, Clark Planetarium, Leonardo, the Fourth Street Clinic, VOA Women’s Shelter, Rescue Mission, St. Vincent de Paul Dining Hall, Good Samaritan, and the Inn Between.

“During Christ the King Service Day, we went to the Jordan River to clean up trash,” Anezka Gomez said. “The best part of my experience was canoeing with my friends and competing for the best/largest trash we picked up.”

“On service day I went to go help out the Carmelite nuns clean their garden,”  Kevin Bambate said.

“We did lots of yard work at the Carmelite Monastery,” sophomore Charlie Payne said. “I had no idea what to expect going to a monastery would be like as I have never been before. They actually had a pretty big yard which was surprising to me. The best part of the experience was having fun with my classmates while doing service that’s helping.”

 “On service day I went to plant trees with TreeUtah,” said Lorraine Hyngstrom. Lorraine went with Belinda Hernandez-Padilla and a few other students to prepare the ground for trees.

 “My advisory group got assigned to the Tracy Aviary,” Ethan Carboni said. “I was excited because I was under the impression that we would be working with the birds but in actuality, we just raked and moved dirt. While this sounds like it could be boring, it wasn’t.       

“The people in my advisory class are really cool and the staff at the aviary were some of the nicest people you will ever meet. We were outside in the sensory garden, and it was astonishing to see all the colors of the plant. It smelled very nice, and the weather could not have been better. While we were working we got to ask questions about the aviary and the birds. Also towards the end a peacock wandered into our area so, in the end, my wish of working with the birds came true. We finished with our work early and were permitted to walk around the aviary to see the birds. This was one of the best parts of the day.”    

Jonathan Petrogeorge also volunteered at Tracy Aviary. “My group raked leaves and crab apples by the pelican pond,” Jonathan said. “After that, we fed fish to the pelicans. This day taught me a lot about how the Tracy Aviary provides a safe and comfortable living space for these birds while also making it an enjoyable experience for all who visit.”

Other groups volunteered at organizations that help vulnerable populations.

“My advisory class went to The Neighborhood House,” Olivia Cowan said. “At this organization, we were able to help people of all ages from toddlers to elders. Half of the group worked with little children by playing with them and keeping them safe. The other half of the group worked with adults with dementia through playing bingo and name games.

“The Neighborhood Home is a place parents can send their children or loved ones in need of assistance knowing they will be well taken care of. This allows for the parents to find a job that supports their family or even just to do routine tasks that would be made harder having to care for another person. Bbeing there made my heart happy. The toddlers are adorable, and anyone would be extremely lucky if they were to volunteer at this organization. I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

My advisory group and I volunteered at the YWCA,” George Frech said. “Their main goals are to empower women and to eliminate racism.

“However, one of the goals they don’t always meet is keeping their warehouse neat and tidy, and so that is what my group helped them to do.

“At the start, we were sorting boxes of makeup and other items,” George said. “We would grab boxes from the shelf, figure out what they were, where they needed to be, and then take them there. That took up probably the first hour of our service. Then, for the rest of the day, we were organizing clothing donations. There were boxes labeled things like ‘toddler 4-6 t-shirts,’ ‘women’s small dresses’ and more. There were three or so big boxes of random clothing. We went through that clothing and put them where they needed to go. My personal highlight of the day was when we were all done I could look back and see all the progress we had made, which felt really good.”

John Monette and the rest of Mr. Hathaway’s group put their set-building skills to work at Habitat for Humanity.

“Habitat for Humanity is a place that helps people in the community build or improve their homes,” John said. “We helped organize their warehouse where they resell donated building supplies. The money they get from selling the items goes back to buy supplies for the next house. The Tech Crew has its own advisory, and we chose to go there because it’s kind of like what we do in class and right up our alley. The best part was just the satisfaction of helping people.”

Another place students worked was the Utah Food Bank. There are multiple things that you can do there like making boxes for needy people, organizing food from big boxes, or organizing the boxes.

 “On service day we went to YouthLinc to knit hats and make menstrual bracelets for volunteers to bring on their service trips for women in need,”  Sophia Lyon said. Sophia’s advisory also made cards for veterans. Nuer Deng also made hats for the homeless.

Other groups went to the foundation Girls on the Run where they made kits to help while running and to help while living at home. They also met some of the girls that are involved.

Some advisories didn’t have to travel for their service. Instead they stayed at Judge and cleaned, organized our library, or moved desks to help with our new middle school academy.

“We made flashcards for the kids in Africa,” said Rylie Middleton.

“My advisory group service project was located on the beach,” Toni Bullough said. “We dug up all of the weeds and grass. After that, they brought some gravel dirt type stuff for us to put into buckets and poured them evenly over the dirt in order to add the turf. It felt kind of like a bonding moment with my friends and peers.”

Other advisory groups, like Ms. Dain’s, helped out at local schools.

 “On service day we went to the basement of the Cathedral of the Madeleine and cleaned,” Aaron Burris said. Other students helped organize the second grade books according to reading level,  watched their class bunny while they were at their recess, played basketball with them, and raced with them.

“I learned that helping your community in small ways makes you feel good,” Athena Bland said. “The best part was when the second graders had dance time. The teacher put Just Dance on the classroom projector, and all the kids got up and danced.”

All Judge students need one hundred hours of service to graduate, and most students say that service day is a rewarding way to take care of five of those required hours every year.