Annual Vincentian Service Day to Offer Community Assistance Saturday

It has taken on an additional urgency this year, in the wake of numerous natural disasters and the devastation along the Gulf Coast. It has taken on a significant role in rebuilding our hardest-hit cities. Most importantly, there are opportunities to apply it in one’s own backyard.

It’s the spirit of volunteerism, and it will take center stage across the city on Saturday, May 6, as DePaul University celebrates its ninth annual Vincentian Service Day. Approximately 800 volunteers – students, faculty, staff and alumni – are expected to take part, performing nearly 4,000 hours of community service in one afternoon at more than 20 sites around Chicago.

According to Greg Stolhand, DePaul community service coordinator, the day offers a chance to show that one needn’t travel across the country to find an opportunity to serve others.

"People are more aware of the need than ever this year, given current events," he said. "Volunteering is on the country’s mind. But we want to show that there’s an ongoing need right here in Chicago that everyone can take part in addressing."

The day will begin with a welcome ceremony and invocation at 9:30 a.m. at St. Vincent de Paul Church, 1010 W. Webster St. in Lincoln Park. Then, the teams of volunteers will depart for their respective sites to clean, paint, weed, organize and refurbish, including the following:

• Theresa House, 5017 S. Hermitage Ave.

• Visitation Catholic School, 900 W. Garfield

• Howard Area Community Center, 7638 N. Paulina St.

In addition, a team of approximately 40 volunteers will be taking part in community clean-up in the neighborhood surrounding DePaul’s Lincoln Park Campus. The teams will return shortly after 3 p.m. for a picnic gathering on the campus quad (along Fullerton Parkway, just west of Kenmore Avenue).

The event takes place each spring in honor of St. Vincent de Paul, the university’s namesake patron who was known as the “Apostle of Charity.” The day is an opportunity for DePaul students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends to form teams and build relationships with the community and remain connected to the city.

Additionally, DePaul will have two suburban volunteer groups on May 6, in Wheaton and Lake Forest, and an additional volunteer group on May 20 in Des Plaines.

With an enrollment of 23,148 students on two city and four suburban campuses, DePaul is the largest Catholic university in the United States. and the 10th-largest private university in the nation. DePaul is an innovative and diverse university offering pragmatic educational programs that instill values, including a commitment to community service.

DePaul was named in 2005 by the Princeton Review as one of the nation’s top "Colleges with a Conscience," and DePaul’s service learning program also was named one of the country’s top programs of its kind by U.S. News & World Report in its annual college rankings issue, "America's Best Colleges," in 2004 and 2005.