Best of the Week 2021-2022: Holy Cross Values

EDSMEN GO OFF-CAMPUS TO GIVE BACK TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY THROUGH SOPHOMORE SERVICE RETREAT

This week marked the fourth Sophomore Service Retreat of the year, with the final one coming up on May 2, 2022. This year's Sophomore Service Retreat took a new approach, encouraging advisory groups and their faculty/staff moderators to go off-campus and offer their service to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank (collecting food to ensure everyone in our communities have the nutritious food they need every day), Zelie's Home (a caring community that provides physical, emotional, spiritual and professional support to pregnant and parenting women), the Bishop Cosgrove Center (a hunger center and shelter for the homeless and hungry of Cleveland) and I'm in Ministry! (providing furniture, clothing, and household items to women and children, the homeless, those suffering from domestic violence, the working poor, and the elderly).

"The Sophomore Service Retreat is all about building relationships with agencies in our community who serve those in need," says Manager of Outreach and Service Emily McGee. "Similarly, our Advisory program is based on building relationships with each other over a four-year journey at St. Ed's. We wanted to give advisories the opportunity to serve the community together, strengthening their relationships with each other while learning about and serving a community agency." This day-long retreat includes time for service, sharing and fellowship. In addition to going to these agencies and offering physical labor and service to impact the community, the Sophomore Service Retreat also encourages students to donate $1 to give back to each agency and includes an exploratory component when students can reflect on the Holy Cross charisms and how they relate to the agencies they served.