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Kate Burke

Mr. Amoruso

Freshman Religion

4.26.17

Service Projects

During the 2016-2017 school year, I completed three primary types of service. I

volunteered at the Saint Kilian Fish Fry, I volunteered at the Food Bank of Pittsburgh, and I

volunteered at the cardinal Wuerl Gala. While each of these are very different types of service, I

could learn a similar lesson. I was able to learn and understand why we need to perform service

as a part of our duty as Catholics. The types of service we volunteer and participate in will make

us better people all together, regardless of the type. Service helps bring us together as a

community, and I am glad that I could participate in the fish fry, food bank, and the gala.

I volunteered at the Saint Kilian fish fry. At the fish fry, I served as a hostess, selling

50/50 tickets, and working to distribute food, and condiments to designated tables. I performed

this service because it helps me to build a sense of community, while helping local school

parents and parishioners to raise money for the church. Every year that I volunteer at the fish fry,

I meet new people, I meet people I already know, and establish new relationships with people I

have met. My service benefited the community and other people because I could help run the

fish fry and contribute to raising money for the church. I benefit from this type of service

because I continue to enhance my communication skills, I learn to work better with people, and

help to manage situations with high tensions and angry people. I think it is essential for

Christians to perform community service because through community service, we can learn to

work as a community. And an essential part of building a healthy church community is to work
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together as one community. To help build the church, Christians and others around the

community can help to build a relationship and work together as worshipers and followers. To

have Christians perform community service is to have them build a relationship with one

another, while also working to build a church community on its own.

I volunteered at the Pittsburgh Food Bank. At the foodbank, my friends and I were set up

around tables with scales, boxes of food, and plastic bags. We weighed 2 pounds of donated

food, then put it into a clear plastic bag. Then 11 plastic bags were placed into a separate

cardboard box to be redistributed to other food bank locations. I performed this service because it

helped me to work in a new venue and it made a considerable contribution to the community. I

could feel as though I had made a difference and it helped me establish a better sense of

community, and what real service can contribute. I volunteered at a real cause, and helped

contribute to a real issue. I could help with the donation of food and help to get food to those in

need. My service benefitted other people because we packaged 8,000 lbs. of food to be donated.

I received the benefit of understanding what true community service is, and what it means to

obtain volunteer hours. I received the benefit of making a difference in the community. I believe

that it is essential for Christians to perform community service because it helps us to grow as a

community who shares our faith. Christians need to perform community service because our

faith is built on the value of helping those in need and helping others in need.

I volunteered at the Cardinal Wuerl Gala. At the Gala, I was working as a greeter, I sold

50/50 tickets, I was a purse model for the purse raffle, and I offered people a token of Cardinal

Wuerls appreciation for attending. I performed this service because I heard they needed

volunteers to help run the event. I have not participated in many Cardinal Wuerl events thus far,

so I felt it would help me to incorporate myself into the school community. My service could
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help Mrs. Morrison and Ms. Schmidt to run the Gala. They needed students to assist in doing

menial tasks throughout the night. I received the benefit of meeting new people in my schools

community. I think it is essential for Christians to perform community service, because we need

to be able to engage in the community and show our Christian-ness and how we aspire to work

with one another to help in the community.

While every experience taught me different lessons and values of charity, I learned one

lesson in the end. I learned that no matter how much it may seem unappreciated, any service we

do, is of great value. While it may seem like nothing to us, it is a huge deal to someone else.