Student Leaders Volunteer During Annual Assumption Loves Worcester Day of Service
On the morning before incoming students of the class of 2022 arrived on campus to begin their university journey, 160 Assumption student leaders volunteered their time to help beautify parks and public housing complexes throughout Worcester during the institution’s annual Assumption Loves Worcester Day of Service.
“The purpose and reason behind [this event] is that we want to be a presence in the community,” said Zachary Sneeringer ’19, a mathematics and music major from Lowell who helped organize the annual event. As a Campus Life summer intern, he worked closely with the Worcester Housing Authority (WHA) to determine the projects and sites at which the students would be working, as well as coordinated details such as T-shirt design and bus transportation. “I think this really highlights what we learned in our student-leader training and in general, giving back to others.”
Community service is a cornerstone of the Assumption mission, and for the last five years, the institution has worked with the WHA for the Assumption Loves Worcester Day of Service, in which student leaders spend a few hours volunteering at community areas in need of assistance. This year, the students volunteered at five public housing complexes removing overgrowth, clearing stairwells, painting railings and fences, as well as spreading mulch and repainting a playground.
“We feel that the work that we do here is really recognized by those who live here, especially today. We’re putting mulch down and repainting the playground and all of the kids who left for daycare or left with their mom or dad for the day will come home to see new paint, new mulch on the playground,” said Mike Rodier, director of recreation at Assumption and a supervisor at the Great Brook Valley site. “The last couple of years we’ve been coming here we’ve really seen the place become a lot different than it was—clean, picked up; there’s a lot of pride and people enjoy living here.”
Mike Reynolds, maintenance supervisor of Great Brook Valley properties, is always happy to see the Assumption students. “This helps us out a tremendous amount,” he said. “I’ve got 12 guys to do all the work inside and outside the apartments and on the grounds, so we are very tight and limited. What [these students] do is stuff we don’t have time to get to that really makes the property pop.
Reynolds, who manages the 26-acre property, said the Assumption students make a difference, whether it’s painting the railings to keep them from deteriorating or pulling weeds from the fences, something that would be costly for the housing complex. “We have a block party on Saturday, so all of these guardrails painted and the playground for the kids and making it fresh really brings the community out to enjoy the property much, much more.”
Though Reynolds said he would “never run out of projects” for the students, Sneeringer noted that the annual event is making a difference. “When we started doing this five years ago, there was a lot of projects that needed to be done,” he said. “As the years progress, there’s less and less projects, which is absolutely a good thing because it’s showing our mark and the influence we have had on the community.”
“Assumption is one of the best schools that I have had come here because they come deep, work hard, no question about it. Assumption has been fantastic to us,” added Reynolds.