Day of service builds community

In 1833, a young college student was challenged to not just talk about helping the poor in Paris, but to demonstrate what he was doing personally. The next day, he delivered a food box to a needy family. That became the foundation for The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, today an international nonprofit organization that serves the poor and provides others with the opportunity to serve.

On Nov. 5, more than 150 students, faculty, staff and supporters from the Arizona State University College of Public Service and Community Solutions joined this cause for a Day of Service.

“Had Frederic Ozanam not responded to the challenge, none of us would be here today,” said Stephen Zabilski, executive director of St. Vincent de Paul Arizona as he welcomed the group to the Watkins campus.

“Think of the power of one person. All of us have that ability,” he said.

The Phoenix organization is the largest St. Vincent de Paul in the United States. Zabilski noted that young people make up a large proportion of that effort – grade school to college students.

Volunteers helped in several ways from shelter clean-up to work in the kitchen to gardening in the urban farm.

“We decided that we wanted to add a component of fresh food beyond what we get from the food banks. We began to grow some vegetables in a garden by the parking lot. Well, guess what, volunteers like you showed up and said you need to make this bigger,” said David Smith, urban farm director.

In just a couple of years, the garden has grown into an urban farm with 18 acres in four locations producing 60-80,000 pounds of food that goes directly into the dining room.

The College Day of Service is a signature event hosted each semester. With the large response, volunteers contributed at both the Watkins campus and the Human Services campus in Phoenix.  

“Activities like this are a reminder that it is possible to think of ourselves as one and to work together towards a common purpose. People always think about public service as giving to others – which is true – but one of the benefits to the person that participates is the rediscovery that you are part of something bigger, that you are connected and share the same aspirations,” said Jonathan Koppell, dean of the College of Public Service and Community Solutions.

He also noted that the work “vividly illustrates the interconnectedness of everything we do in the college,” where programs include nonprofit leadership, public administration, social work and criminology. An events management class in the college led all planning, marketing and day-of support.

Most people use services provided by St. Vincent de Paul once and never have a need again.

“Finding this helping hand gets people on to a different trajectory,” Koppell said.