House to be Used for Student Service Programs

Each week, University of Scranton students will use the two kitchens of a newly dedicated Rev. Pedro Arrupe, S.J., House on Clay Avenue to prepare 100 meals for area residents in need. In another room, students will crochet hats and blankets, many of which will be given to the homeless in our area.

Rev. Joseph Marina, S.J., president of The University of Scranton, blessed the house at a ceremony that will be used for some of the many student volunteer programs offered by the University’s Center for Service and Social Justice that allow students to put their faith into action each day.

“Since day one, my first day here on campus last June, I have been marveling at the great work these students do,” said Father Marina at the March 1^st dedication. “We know how challenging going to college can be, especially these days. In addition to that, to find not only the time, but to find it in your heart to give of so much time, energy and passion to keep this Center going and to feed so many and to affect so many people for the good is just a marvelous thing.”

The house was dedicated in honor of Father Arrupe, the 28th Superior General of the Society of Jesus (1963 to 1983), who is now in the process toward beatification and canonization by the Roman Catholic Church. His profound belief in justice informed his understanding of the goal of Jesuit education, saying “our prime educational objective must be to form men and women for others; men and women who will live not for themselves but for God and his Christ.”

In his remarks at the dedication ceremony, Rev. Herbert B. Keller, S.J., vice president for Mission and Ministry, said Father Arrupe “was a man of great spiritual depth who made it his life’s work to educate women and men to serve others – an ideal that now guides Jesuit institutions across the world. Considered by many as the “second founder” of the Society of Jesus, Father Arrupe revolutionized the Society’s mission towards a service of faith that requires the promotion of justice … May the Arrupe House be a reminder to us every day on this campus of our obligation to be men and women for others.”

The Arrupe House will provide space for the We Care Meal program, for which students prepare 100 meals weekly. The meals include a main course, side, drink, dessert and handmade card. Students volunteer to make, package and deliver the meals to the Community Intervention Center, Friends of the Poor, as well as to families living in low income housing developments such as Valley View Terrace, Bangor Heights, Hilltop and Jackson Terrace. The house also provides space for the Craft for a Cause program through which students make cards, crochet items, jewelry and other crafts that are donated to the Catherine McAuley Center and Friends of the Poor. The building also houses EFFORT, which is a program that collects non-perishable food items, and the Royal Restore Food Pantry that can be accessed by students or University community members in need. The Arrupe House also has additional group meeting spaces for students working with other Center for Service and Social Justice programs.

Also speaking at the dedication ceremony were: Patricia Vaccaro, director of the Center for Service and Social Justice; Shannon Everton, a 2021 graduate of the University from Sykesville, Maryland, who is currently pursuing her master’s degree in occupational therapy and is the graduate assistant for The Center for Service and Social Justice; and Brandon Dagrosa, a health administration major from Hazle Township and a work study student for The Center for Service and Social Justice.