Photo courtesy of College of St. Joseph
CSJ students weed around lamp posts and parking meters in downtown Rutland as part of a community service project.
RUTLAND—The newest members of the College of St. Joseph community learned what it means to be a provider during the college’s Day of Service on Saturday, Aug. 26.
Students piled into several CSJ buses and vans to be dropped off at eight locations across the city to perform the first four of their 15 required hours of community service through the Provider Scholarship Program.
“Sixty-four new students, four residence directors, eight residence advisors, and one staff member completed 253 hours of service on Saturday,” said CSJ’s Vice President of Student Affairs, Melissa Paradee.
Four students joined Downtown Rutland Partnership Executive Director Steve Peters to clean up downtown, including weeding around over 25 parking meters and lamp posts on West Street, Center Street, and Merchants Row.
Another group put on hard hats to help with a Habitat for Humanity build on Cleveland Avenue. Ohers went to Jen’s Motel, a transitional housing facility, to help spruce up the building, including painting the foundation and lawn maintenance.
“All I can say is, wow. I didn’t have enough work ready for them. I had some plan B stuff, but we ended up doing all of that, too,” said Patrick Higgins, who oversees the BROC program. “These kids are not afraid of work. I’m impressed and grateful beyond words.”
And it didn’t stop there.
Students got their hands dirty clearing a new trail at Pine Hill Park and sprucing up West Street Cemetery, while others helped prepare for the community lunch at Trinity Church and cleaned and organized play areas at Wonderfeet Kids’ Museum.
