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As neighbors walked by St. Pio Regional Catholic School, 1826 Pollock St., Saturday, they witnessed more than 30 Immaculata University freshmen hard at work. Donning matching blue T-shirts, several were pulling weeds near the fence of the school parking lot and cleaning up trash while others were installing an ornamental fence around the perimeter of the front lawn and garden. Even more were packed inside a three-stall bathroom at the side of the school hall, giving its walls and doors a fresh coat of paint.
These efforts were part of Macs Giving Back — an Immaculata student-orientation service project for its more than 300 incoming freshmen.
“I chose to focus on Catholic schools in Philadelphia, particularly South Philadelphia, because archdiocesan Catholic schools have struggled in the past few years with mergers, closures and reorganization,” Melissa Mullin, the school’s learning strategy specialist in its Academic Success Center said. “I believe it’s important to promote the value of education that is rooted in faith, mission and identity.”
Groups of 16 to 32 students were separated into First Year Experience networks and assigned to volunteer for four hours at one of 11 participating sites, which included four South Philly Catholic schools, where they worked alongside upper-class mentors and faculty members. St. Monica School, 1720 Ritner St.; St. Anthony of Padua Regional Catholic School, 913 Pierce St., and St. Thomas Aquinas Mission School, 1719 Morris St., were the three additional local sites. Citywide, the students also spruced up four West Philly, two North Philly and one Port Richmond site.
Although this service project has been happening for about five years, with nursing homes, playgrounds, community centers and schools receiving attention in the past, this year, by far, was the biggest yet, with one of the largest incoming freshmen classes the University has had in years.
When Mullin started back in June, she was eager to increase the efforts of this endeavor and focus more heavily on the education aspect.
“Immaculata promotes service in the mission and identity of the school,” the resident of the 2500 block of South 12th Street who also grew up on that block said.
Mullin reached out to a number of schools, including her own grade school — the former St. Richard School, which joined with Holy Spirit to become St. Pio in 2012 — throughout the summer and visited the final 11 sites in July. What she came back with after each stop was a wish list of sorts — what each facility needed for the upcoming year and this venture in particular. She then went out and purchased the necessary supplies for each school whether it was paint, brooms, fencing, cleaning supplies or trash bags, spending about $50 to $200 per school.
St. Pio’s principal, Marianne Garnham, was thrilled for the help with “luxury” projects that included placing a small, black scalloped fence in front of the lawn, with the hopes of keeping out neighborhood dogs, and painting the rectory, school hall and bathrooms.
“We have plenty here for them to do,” she said. “They are helping us with things that because of the time or money just don’t get done sometimes.”
Each facility, depending on the need, requested different tasks. The students at St. Monica and St. Anthony of Padua cleaned bathrooms and classrooms, organized books, unpacked chairs and swept outside while volunteers at St. Thomas Aquinas participated in a large-scale paint job of each door frame on the building’s first and second floors in addition to an entire classroom. The students also focused on moving the library from a classroom to the former day care space, organizing books, setting up the after care and art rooms, relocating furniture and more.
“They are incredibly helpful,” Principal MaryAnn Fynes, a former member of St. Gabriel Church, 2917 Dickinson St., said.
The college students lent a strong and distinct skill set – motivation combined with being energetic, strong and mature individuals eager to help without needing a lot of direct supervision, Fynes said.
“I just think young people in service like this are incredibly important to accomplish what needs to be accomplished in urban education,” she said.
As the cost of education increases and the necessary resources decrease, a special project like this becomes invaluable and something the schools couldn’t possibly afford otherwise.
“Who wouldn’t want all of this help?” St. Pio’s maintenance supervisor, Bruce Gilchrist, said.
Noticing an apparent human resource need, the students planned on returning even before the day was finished.
“The mission is to stay connected to the school after we serve, to do a project with the school during the semester and stay involved,” Mullin said of future activities that may include book drives and fun activity days. “Our office, the Academic Success Center, would like to continue a relationship with each school during the school year and return to each school again next year to serve.”
And, as freshmen, many of the “Macs” were not yet familiar with the peers they were working alongside. Freshman Ashley Kahn of West Chester stood on a chair in the newly renovated bathroom off to the side of St. Pio’s hall painting the sheetrock above the door frame. She was thrilled to assist in any way and reap the inherent rewards in return.
“I’m having a lot of fun with this project,” she said. “I love volunteer work and giving back to a community and families.”
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
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