(Photo Credit: Regan O'Leary/ achona online/ piktochart)
According to Youth Helping America 55 percent of youth ages 12 to 18 participate in volunteer activities. The teen volunteering rate is nearly twice the adult volunteering rate of 29 percent. 1.3 billion hours of community service each year by teens in America.
Community Service Day 2019
January 31, 2019
Catholic Schools Week is a week in January sponsored by the National Catholic Educational Association in which Catholic schools across the nation celebrate the catholic faith by participating in, Masses, fun activities for students and families, and serving the community. Every year during Catholic Schools Week AHN high school students volunteer at many different organizations around Tampa Bay.
On Tues., Jan. 29, AHN students spilt up into small groups and traveled to the destinations around Tampa Bay in which they were volunteering. The day started with mass for the students to be reminded why serving others is an important part of attending catholic school.
A group of AHN students volunteering at Oaks at Riverview Community Center that benefits children who live in either public housing or the inner city of Tampa with a sports and recreational program that emphasize the need for cooperation, teamwork, sportsmanship, and education that will help youth to cope with the everyday trials of growing up in the inner city.
A new role for students was created this year in which they were able to be liaisons and coordinate with the organizations about what they wanted the students to bring and wear. This is the first year that this role was available to students in attempt to allow them to be more involved in the day. “I really enjoyed being a liaison because I felt like I was more involved in community service day, I also enjoyed being able to be a representative of AHN in the community,” said Ella Castellano (’20)
The tasks that students completed included playing with special needs children, serving food to the less fortunate, sorting cans, and spending time with the elderly. Students were able to interact with girls from all grade levels and step outside their comfort zones to serve others in the community.
Each year, about 6,000 babies are born with Down syndrome, which is about 1 in every 700 babies born. This is a child who attends the non- profit GiGi’s Playhouse which provides children and adults with down syndrome with educational opportunities.
The 2019 service day locations this year included 4 new locations including Gigis Playhouse of Tampa, Sweet Water Organic Farms, Busansky Senior Center, and Santa Maria Mission. Along with 20 other locations which were….
- Feeding Tampa Bay
- St. Johns Learning Center
- Trinity Café Busch
- Religious Community Services Food Bank
- A Brighter Community
- Habitat for Humanity
- RCMA
- Dover
- Nativity Food Pantry
- Horses for Handicapped
- Trinity Café Nebraska
- The Spring
- Village Community Food Pantry
- St. Peter Claver
- Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful
- Metropolitan Ministries
- Pyramid
- Oaks at Riverview
- Mary Help Of Christians
- The Children’s Home