Annual Caldwell Day of Service Inspires Students To Give Back

Today is a day to put “faith and mission into action,” said Christina Bryant, Ph.D., Caldwell University’s director of campus ministry, as the University kicked off its annual Caldwell Day of service, Friday, Sept. 22. 

Classes were canceled and approximately 250 students, faculty and staff volunteered for nonprofits that benefit communities in Caldwell, Essex County, the state and around the world.  

Referencing the scripture verse “Love your neighbor,” in Matthew 22, Caldwell President Jeffrey Senese, Ph.D. said the Caldwell Day of Service is “a demonstration of  loving our neighbors.”  As a Catholic and Dominican university, said Dr. Senese, the University has a moral obligation to serve others. It is important, he said, to demonstrate, “how humans work together for the common good.” 

Student Issrak Ahmed was thrilled with the experience, saying it motivates her to want to “do better in the world.”  She was part of the team that created cheerful drawings for the Color a Smile nonprofit that reaches out to senior citizens, troops overseas, and anyone who needs a smile. 

On campus, volunteers packaged more than 17,000 meals for Rise Against Hunger, a global organization that works to end hunger around the world.  Student Kayla Baca said the experience was gratifying and eye-opening for her and she was moved to learn that approximately 80 children per day would eat lunch for a year due to the University’s efforts.

Other volunteers packed food at the Community FoodBank of New Jersey and cleaned up parks or historical sites like Kingsland Manor in Nutley, Grover Cleveland Park in Caldwell and Brookdale Park in Montclair.  Student Samuel Annan helped out at Grover Cleveland where the group cut branches, weeded, and planted.  It was an amazing feeling, he said, to receive positive feedback from community members in the park who were grateful for the University’s assistance.  

Volunteers also organized items at Willing Hearts in Caldwell which benefits the Rotary Club’s of Caldwell’s charitable projects. Benahir Crespo, coordinator of student support services at the University, led the group at Willing Hearts. She appreciated walking to the site with students, having a chance to get to know them and build community, one of the University’s pillars. “If we were driving we would not have had that one-on-one.”   

Other campus members organized clothes to prepare for Midnight Runs when Campus Ministry leads community service projects to reach out to those in need in New York;  helped out at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Fairfield; took part in the Citymeals on Wheels homemade greeting card project or addressed postcards for the Center for Common Ground, part of Reclaim Our Vote, a non-partisan voting rights initiative aimed at reaching underrepresented voters. 

The annual Caldwell Day of Service was organized by the Office of Campus Ministry. The tradition dates back to 2010 and is one of many ways the University provides opportunities for students to live out the Dominican pillar of action.