By McKena Miyashiro |
From the freshmen Service Plunge to immersion trips across the globe, UP students have the opportunity to pay their education forward through service. UP has been recognized nationally for their service efforts that allow students to give back to the community. Teaching, faith and service are integral parts of UP, and the Moreau Center offers different volunteer opportunities both in Portland and abroad.
Roosevelt High School
6941 N Central St.
1.9 miles from campus
Issue: Education
If you’re interested in improving your tutoring skills, spend some time working with Roosevelt High School students. Spanish-speaking volunteers can immerse themselves in the language while tutoring students who speak English as a second language.
Sophomore Hannah Vogel, an English major, volunteers at Roosevelt High School. Her students call her Tinkerbell, and she feels volunteering is the best part of her day.
“It’s been one of the most wonderful experiences I’ve had,” Vogel said. “The relationships I’ve built with the kids there is just priceless. They’re all wonderful and I love them.”
St. Andre Bessette Catholic Church
601 W Burnside St.
6.0 miles from campus
Issue: Homelessness/Hunger
Looking to serve up some warm coffee and good conversation? Head to Brother Andre Cafe at St. Andre Bessette Catholic Church in downtown Portland. This cafe offers hospitality for people struggling with homelessness and allows volunteers to work in the kitchen, serve food, or greet guests. The Moreau Center offers a carpool service to the site that leaves from St. Mary’s Center.
Senior Daphne Baracena, a biology major, has volunteered with St. Andre’s for the past three years.
“We’re able to be hospitable and engage with whoever is present in that space,” Baracena said. “After meal service, we end with a reflection piece about what we did and something that stood out to each of us.”
Friends of Trees
3117 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
Multiple sites around Portland
Issue: Environmental
Friends of Trees aims to prevent deforestation by planting trees in local communities. Since UP’s partnership with Friends of Trees in 2011, more than 250 UP students have planted trees in the Portland-Vancouver metro areas.
Junior Alexa Pettinari, an environmental ethics ethics and policy major, has volunteered with Friends of Trees in the past.
“I think environmental activism is really important, given our current state of affairs with climate,” Pettinari said. “Friends of Trees accomplishes a personal responsibility to our environment that other organizations have yet to accomplish.”
McKena Miyashiro is a news reporter for The Beacon. She can be reached at miyashir17@up.edu.
