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St. Ambrose students find fulfillment in volunteer work
Posted Online: July 04, 2009, 11:42 pm
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By Christina Salter, csalter@qconline.com
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Every Thursday, St. Ambrose University senior Dylan Parker and some of his classmates spend most of the afternoon and night cooking and serving a free community dinner at Lafayette Park in Davenport. Fifteen to 30 people usually show up for the picnic hosted by QC Food Not Bombs, an international organization's local chapter that Mr. Parker founded with several friends. The dinners are more of a community-building effort than charity, he said. "We believe food is a right, not a privilege," Mr. Parker said. "People shouldn't be going hungry in the world, let alone in our backyards." Mr. Parker is one of many St. Ambrose students who are active in the community. During the 2008-2009 school year, St. Ambrose students managed to squeeze 15,000 hours of volunteer work into the busy schedule of college life. And that's just the volunteer hours that were logged, said Jane Kettering, St. Ambrose media-relations director. "That would be the equivalent of one person working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, for more than seven years," she said. Some students find volunteer work on their own or through school organizations, and some professors incorporate service learning in their classrooms, said Stella O'Rourke, campus minister for volunteerism and interfaith outreach. St. Ambrose has a strong tradition of service and social justice, she said. "In part, that's why some of our students come here," Ms. O'Rourke said. "Our culture encourages it, and we support it." St. Ambrose freshmen start their year with a daylong service project called Urban Plunge, she said. Other university-sponsored service opportunities include Be a Difference Day, a day of neighborhood outreach in the fall, a local Habitat for Humanity chapter, and service trips throughout the school year. About 40 St. Ambrose students volunteer in a Big Brothers Big Sisters site-based program in which area children come to campus twice a month during the school year, said Emily Jepsen, school-based director for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Mississippi Valley. St. Ambrose students also participate in the lunch buddies program, visiting local schools to spend lunch and recess time with students several times each month. "We wouldn't be able to grow without the St. Ambrose support," Ms. Jepsen said. "They can show them what it's like to be successful and go on to college." Mr. Parker, who also is involved in the advocacy group Ambrosians for Peace and Justice, the school food drive and the environmental group Green Life, said balancing schoolwork and his volunteering activities can be difficult, but the effort is ultimately worthwhile. "It's basically the most fulfilling thing I do," he said. "It's not more important than schoolwork, but it's the satisfaction that I get out of helping people and the knowledge that I'm trying to help people in the world." 
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