Seven Students Put in a Combined 3,000 Hours of Community Service

May 13, 2009

Seven University of Scranton students completed a total of 3,000 hours of service this academic year – that equates to an average of 428 hours for each student, or roughly 53 eight-hour workdays.

The students provided their time and services to several local community service agencies including United Neighborhood Centers, Children’s Advocacy Center, EOTC Family Matters, and Skyview Mentoring, among others.  

The students are also the first at University of Scranton to participate in the Scholars in Service to PA program, which rewards college students who contribute more than 450 hours of service to their community during one calendar year with an AmeriCorps Education Award.

The 2008-09 school year was the first that University of Scranton students participated in the Scholars in Service to PA program. This year’s Scholars are Bridget Marrine of Poughkeepsie, N.Y.; Jaclyn Newns of Glenside; Stephanie Salinis of Philadelphia; Danielle Frascella of Stirling, N.J.; Catherine Gallagher of Haverford; Krystina Monetti of Toms River, N.J.; and Catherine McKenna of Springfield.

“The program lets us live out the University’s mission and what it means to be a Jesuit school,” said Frascella of her experience with the program. “It means something to me personally because it has allowed me to work with the Scranton community outside of the campus community.”

In addition to their regular service projects, the students undertook an apartment make-over project in Scranton to help a single-mother of four. The project involved cleaning, painting, and collecting donated items for the family as well as the students’ own fundraising efforts to pay for the project.

The week of May 10-16 is National AmeriCorps Week.  AmeriCorps has received an additional $200 million as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the Stimulus Package.  This translates into an additional 75 Scholars in Service to PA members volunteering this summer in camps, youth programs and other activities.  

Additionally, this spring, President Obama signed into law the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which will triple the number of AmeriCorps members serving nationally from about 70,000 to 250,000 by 2017.

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