SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES
Want to volunteer in the Community or at St. Edward High School?
Click HERE to view new Community Service Opportunities.
Click HERE to sign up for St. Edward Service Opportunities, including the weekly Labre Ministry, monthly St. Edward Community Meal, and seasonal Produce Distribution. These are open to alumni & parents in addition to students!
Volunteer Policy:
For all St. Ed's managed outreach programs, if you sign up and do not show up, and you also fail to communicate your absence to Mrs. McGee in advance of the event, you will be removed from all future sign ups. Your commitment is expected when you sign up, but it is understandable that life happens. Please send all communication immediately to Mrs. McGee at emcgee@sehs.net. Thank you for your support.
COMMUNITY PROJECTS
Community Meal – Beginning in April of 1994, St. Edward High School has sponsored a monthly community meal organized and run by faculty, students, parents, and alumni volunteers. The meals, which take place on the fourth Wednesday of each month, serve hundreds of community members. Volunteers are needed the day of the meal on Wednesday for 3:15 – 6:30 PM.
Monthly Produce Distribution – St. Ed's will host a free monthly produce distribution starting in March through October.
School Garden – Rooted in our Holy Cross tradition, the St. Edward High School Garden is a garden with hope to bring! Its mission is to cultivate a sense of curiosity about, and reverence for, the earth and our interdependence with all God’s creation; be a source of fresh, organic produce for those in need; and provide hands-on, cooperative learning for the St. Edward community. Click the link above to sign up to work in the garden, or contact Lisa Hardin at lhardin@sehs.net for more information.
Thanksgiving Food Drive – Each year, we partner with the Lakewood Charitable Assistance Corporation to provide a Thanksgiving Meal, as well as a week’s worth of groceries to needy families and individuals throughout the City of Lakewood. In addition to bringing in items to donate, all students are encouraged to volunteer their time to help collect, sort, and distribute food donations.
Christmas Charity Drive – As a part of the Advent and Christmas Season, the St. Ed's Community is asked to support the less fortunate in our community in a variety of ways. We host a coat and blanket drive for organizations who serve the homeless, including the Metanoia Project, NEOCH, and the City Mission. We also encourage students, faculty and staff to take a labeled ornament off of our school's Giving Tree to commit to bringing in an item for those served by our Labre Ministry, which provides outreach to the homeless in Cleveland. Similarly, our Virtual Giving Tree gives our community the opportunity to purchase much-needed items for the less fortunate in NE Ohio.
Eagles on Foot – Our annual 5k Run and1 Mile Walk is held annually to raise money to support our Holy Cross Mission in two aspects: 1) to provide microgrants to Holy Cross schools in need, and 2) to provide financial support to students going on St.
Ed's planned service immersion trips. These life-changing experiences support the development of our Edsmen into future Servant Leaders.
Spring Day of Service – Each Spring, St. Edward High School students, faculty, staff, parents, and alumni work together in a day of service to benefit the Lakewood Community. Groups of volunteers work together on a variety of projects, depending on the needs.
For more information on these and other projects, please contact Mrs. Emily McGee - emcgee@sehs.net
SERVICE CLUBS
The Service Club - This group is dedicated to person-to-person service in the community to those who are poor and marginalized in our society. This group helps at local food pantries, delivers bags of food to seniors in Lakewood, and preforms other acts of charity and service throughout the school year.
Contact: Mrs. Emily McGee - emcgee@sehs.net
Catholic Schools for Peace and Justice (CSPJ) – CSPJ is an organized group of educators and advocates for social justice from across the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland; we strive to support students from our diocese in living the call of their faith to build just relationships which lead to a lasting peace. The St. Edward High School chapter of CSPJ is actively involved in a number of service projects and events, both within the St. Ed’s school community, and throughout the Diocese of Cleveland. Some events include: Attending the Diocese of Cleveland Respect Life Rally, Attending the National Right to Life Rally in Washington D.C., and coordinating Respect Life Month at St. Ed’s.
Contact: Mr. Matt Wallenhorst - mwallenhorst@sehs.net
SERVICE TRIPS
Summer Service Immersion Trip - 10-15 students and 2-3 faculty members from St. Edward High School spend a week in different locations around the United States serving the homeless.
Appalachia – Since the summer of 1998 a group of St. Edward High School students, faculty and staff have traveled to the Appalachian region of the United States to participate in a weeklong Habitat for Humanity building project. For the past seven years, we have spent our week working with wonderful people of Franklin, WV through Almost Heaven Habitat for Humanity.
Contact: Mrs. Emily McGee - emcgee@sehs.net
Cleveland Immersion Trip – Students looking to do service and make an impact in their own backyard can participate in various Cleveland-based service immersion trips throughout the school year.
Contact: Mrs. Emily McGee - emcgee@sehs.net
Additional service learning trips are offered each year. Below are films which showcase recent trips to El Salvador; Ghana, Africa; and the Dominican Republic.
LABRE MINISTRY
The Labre ministry allows our students, faculty & staff, alumni, and friends of St. Edward to directly serve the immediate needs of the poor every Thursday through the entire year. The ministry immersion, named after St. Benedict Joseph Labre, the patron saint of the homeless, allows students to see and experience the struggles of our homeless friends on the streets. This ministry is powerful as our students help prepare the meal, meet, and serve our poor brothers and sisters by coming to them (i.e. under bridges, in vacant lots, woods, etc.).
Students hand-deliver food, clothing, hygiene kits, etc. to those we visit each week. This helps to instill in our students that every human being has dignity and that we should be preferential in charity to the poorest among us.
As written in the Holy Cross constitutions, our mission is clear, “Christ was anointed to bring good news to the poor, release for prisoners, sight for the blind, restoration for every broken victim. Our efforts, which are His, reach out to the afflicted and in a preferential way to the poor and the oppressed. We come not just as servants but as their neighbors, to be with them and of them. It is not that we take sides against sinful enemies; before the Lord all of us are sinners and none is an enemy. We stand with the poor and the afflicted because only from there can we appeal as Jesus did for the conversion and the deliverance of all.” (Holy Cross Constitutions 2:13)
It also states, “But we do not grieve as men without hope, for Christ the Lord has risen to die no more. He has taken us into the mystery and the grace of this life that springs up from death. If we, like Him encounter and accept suffering in our discipleship, we will move without awkwardness among others who suffer. We must be men with hope to bring.” (Holy Cross Constitutions 8:118)
If you would like more information or are interested in participating in our Labre ministry on a particular Thursday please e-mail Mrs. Emily McGee - emcgee@sehs.net
"St. Benedict Joseph Labre, poor in the eyes of men but rich in the eyes of God, pray for us."
TUTORING
Eagle Study – After school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and during Community Period B, St. Edward students volunteer their time to assist their fellow Eagles through a peer tutoring program. Students from all grade levels, with interest/expertise in any subject are welcome to volunteer.
Contact: Ms. Holly McTernan - hmcternan@sehs.net
Local Tutoring – For many years, St. Edward High School and local elementary schools have enjoyed a wonderful partnership. St. Edward students volunteer as tutors after school to work with and mentor younger students.
Contact: Mrs. Emily McGee - emcgee@sehs.net
RECOMMENDED SERVICE AGENCIES
In addition to the variety of service opportunities sponsored or facilitated by St. Edward High School, there are numerous opportunities for students to serve others in their own communities. Here are just a few suggestions of places to look when trying to find opportunities to serve others:
Community Meals in Lakewood – In addition to the St. Edward High School Community Meal, a variety of churches and civic groups host a community meal each month in the city of Lakewood. A complete list can be found here.
Volunteer Lakewood – Volunteer Lakewood is a website run by the City of Lakewood to connect volunteers to service opportunities around the city.
Each year, St. Edward High School partners with a number of organizations, and each of these agencies is a great place for students to volunteer to meet their individual service requirement:
Boys & Girls Club of Cleveland
Lakewood Charitable Assistance Corporation
Lakewood Community Services Center
Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry