NDNU Students Aim to Inspire Youth in San Mateo County During Call to Action Day

The following was submitted for publication by Notre Dame de Namur University:

Notre Dame de Namur University will shut its doors on March 26, 2015, so that students, staff and faculty can join community partners in serving local youth and those in need. This year’s Call to Action Day marks the ninth consecutive year of official university-wide community service.

More than 300 students and faculty will participate in projects at 18 different community partners. Projects include recreational park clean-up and restoration, serving meals with local hunger relief organizations, and hands-on learning with elementary school students.

“Call to Action Day is an absolutely perfect demonstration of Notre Dame de Namur University’s commitment to social justice and community engagement,” said NDNU President Judith Maxwell Greig, Ph.D. “It’s the most visible event in which we participate as a community during the year, but it is also only one of many. In fact, NDNU students, faculty and staff contribute more than 128,000 hours to community engagement activities as part of their coursework and as volunteers every year.”

Volunteers hope to inspire others to get more involved in their communities as this year’s theme centers around Notre Dame Learning Community Hallmark Six: “We create community among those with whom we work and with those we serve.” In addition to general community-building, volunteers will focus on tackling social issues faced by youth through collaborative service projects with local elementary schools.

Sites include:

• Belle Air Elementary, 450 3rd Ave, San Bruno, CA 94006
  • Community Psychology Class at will engage with the children of Belle Air Elementary School (San Bruno).
• The Junipero Serra Project, 1801 Crystal Springs Rd, San Bruno, CA 94066
  • 4th and 5th graders from Belle Air School in San Bruno will join NDNU volunteers in restoring Magic Mountain Playground in San Mateo County’s Coyote Point Picnic Area. Site activities also include a loop nature hike through the oak chaparral habitat guided by county park interpretive rangers.
• Art Therapy Activities with Fair Housing and Adult Resources (FHAR), NDNU Campus, 1500 Ralston Avenue, Belmont, CA
  • FHAR housing guests and volunteers will interact through art therapy activities. Volunteers are asked to help with art projects, or simply be friendly, encouraging and social with housing guests.
• Sports, Service, and Society, 570 Ellis St, San Francisco, CA 94109
  • Professor Don Stannard- Friel and his class will hold a sports clinic at Tenderloin Children’s Playground in an effort to build bonds and open communication between the NDNU and Tenderloin communities through sports education.
• Graffiti Mural, On Campus
  • Volunteers will watch and participate in the painting of a mural aimed to express artistic responses to hate speech. The mural will be installed on campus by guest artists Nathan Tan and Eustinove Smith as they discuss the community dynamics surrounding a reconciliation-themed mural.

Full list of sites

(Image via Shutterstock)