Service With a Smile

We reported earlier this week that hundreds of Seattle Pacific University Students would be volunteering all over Beacon Hill this weekend.

As a graduate of Gonzaga University, I spent a lot of time volunteering in the community because of the emphasis Jesuit based education puts on service.  So I am always curious about schools that emphasise service and community involvement at the practical level. 

My friend Tracy Norlen at SPU helped me connect with Owen Sallee, Coordinator for Global and Urban Involvement at SPU and he was kind enough to answer my list of questions:

Q.  What is CityQuest and how was Beacon Hill selected as one of the neighborhoods involved?

A.  CityQuest is SPU’s Welcome Week service day, an annual event dating back to the early 1990s.  All new students are invited to participate in a day of service projects around Seattle.  Students serve with peers from their University Seminar classes, which helps them build relationships with a community organization and their future classmates before the start of classes.

Q.  Who is involved in CityQuest and what kinds of work will be done this weekend on Beacon Hill?

A. Projects on Beacon Hill (or with Beacon Hill based organizations) include:

-Lewis Park, at 1120 15th Ave. South. Their tasks will include clearing out invasive, non-native plants.

- El Centro de la Raza, at 5701 6th Ave S. They will set up and decorate for El Centro's 2nd Annual Auction Banquet at the Seattle Design center.

- Dr. Jose Rizal Park, at 1008 12th Avenue South. They will help finish a walking trail through the woods, plant bulbs for the spring, and remove invasives.

- Cheasty Greenspace at 2809 S Alaska Pl. They will remove invasive plant species, plant native plants and build a walking trail through the woods.

Q.  Why does Seattle Pacific University encourage this type of service with its students?

A.  Two main reasons:  First, we hope students will make community involvement an integral part of their college experience.  As part of SPU’s “engage the culture, change the world” mission, we know that involvement in the community is key to learning.  It’s also important to learn from the work of community leaders and organizations; CityQuest doesn’t create projects, rather, we’re seeking to partner with others’ ongoing work.  We hope students will return to volunteer again with these organizations, or will be inspired to volunteer elsewhere throughout their college experience.

Q.  How can neighbors help the students?

A.  I’m sure each of these organizations would love help!  They’re welcome to stop by to help, and hopefully they’ll connect with a neighbor who’d like volunteer help throughout the year.

Q.  Anything I didn't ask about CityQuest and the student's volunteer work on Beacon Hill?

A.  The big thing we’d really like to emphasize here is that CityQuest’s big work is to connect students to community.  We hope CityQuest is  a start in that direction.  We know that community involvement rounds out classroom learning; seeing real life and learning from the example of community leaders who serve their neighbors helps students understand what their academic learning means to the real world.  We’re grateful for the work of our community partners, and we’re excited for the experience this opportunity provides for our students