Volunteers in the Caldwell University student center gym use an assembly line to pack meals. From left are Rob Whitaker, Meals on Wheels Communication Engineer for New York and New Jersey; Caldwell University President Matthew Whelan; and Campus Ministry Director Colleen O'Brien.
CALDWELL UNIVERSITY’S DAY OF SERVICE
Caldwell University student Ambar Coto wipes the windows Friday, Sept. 24 at St. Aloysius Church in Caldwell. Please see story and more photos on page 5.
Caldwell University students Sonia Casiano, left, and Yulissa Camana collect leaves in the St. Aloysius Parish parking lot in Caldwell during the Day of Service.
Caldwell University graduate student Danielle Silvia, who also works in the registrar's office, pulls weeds in Grover Cleveland Park with Dan Burg, who works in the college's IT department.
Caldwell University student Gabriela Lopez, left, holds a funnel for student Mariam Haroun to pour in a vitamin packet in the student center gym Friday, Sept. 24.
Volunteers in the Caldwell University student center gym use an assembly line to pack meals. From left are Rob Whitaker, Meals on Wheels Communication Engineer for New York and New Jersey; Caldwell University President Matthew Whelan; and Campus Ministry Director Colleen O'Brien.
Caldwell University student Samuel Annan, left, rakes the front walkway of St. Aloysius Parish with staff member Abdul Staten.
CALDWELL – Some Caldwell University students and staff made thousands of meals on campus while others did landscaping work at St. Aloysius Parish and Grover Cleveland Park during the annual Caldwell Day on Friday, Sept. 24.
The Day of Service was canceled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The event this year attracted 170 volunteers.
Students and staff formed assembly lines in the student center gym and made more than 17,000 meals with vegetables, vegetable packets, rice and soy for Rise Against Hunger.
In the parking lot and front walkway of St. Aloysius on Bloomfield Avenue, volunteers raked leaves and weeded and they cleaned windows of the buildings.
At the park, they raked leaves, weeded and pulled out vines.
Other volunteers cleaned up other municipalities, including Newark.
Caldwell University student Samuel Annan, who was a volunteer at the church, said he and others were trying to make sure that the church looks wonderful.
Abdul Staten, director of student advocacy and prevention awareness, was working with Annan on the walkway.
After the work is finished, the volunteers will gather on campus for lunch, then talk about what they took from the experience, he said.
He hopes students see the day as giving back in a spiritual and psychological way and as giving to something greater than yourself. “And not just from a spiritual standpoint but from just being a good human thing.”
University President Matthew Whelan, who packed meals with his wife, said he couldn’t think of a truer expression of helping the community.
“The students are really living out our core values: respect, integrity, community, excellence,” he said. “Certainly, the embodiment of this service is respect for other areas, helping other communities. And on the personal integrity, they certainly realize that they’ve got to give back.”
Director of Campus Ministry Colleen O’Brien, who coordinated the event, said the university usually has about 250 volunteers for the Day of Service. The pandemic meant fewer places to help out this year.
“This day is really just about a reflection of our mission and who we are here at Caldwell,” she said. “We serve to be people for others who go out into the world and care about what’s going on in our community and other people’s lives.”
Contact Brett Friedensohn at brettf@newjerseyhills.com
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article reported an incorrect number of meals and an incorrect beneficiary.
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