Avila University’s incoming class took the annual Community Plunge on August 20, heading to Harvesters community food network in Kansas City to pack more than 60,000 pounds of product for emergency food pantries, community kitchens, homeless shelters, children’s homes and other non-profit organizations. Students also received a tour of the facility and participated in a simulation to help them understand the difficulties faced by families with limited means.
As part of the First-Year Experience seminar, incoming students are introduced to the University value of Service with the Dear Neighbor via the Community Plunge service trip. Since 2003, Avila’s incoming students have made the annual trip to Harvesters, where they have now packed more than 1.1 million meals, including 10,000 backpack snacks for area children.
This is just the first service opportunity for many Avila students. All told, the student body will volunteer more than 140,000 service and service-study hours through the academic year.
“Community Plunge is a wonderful opportunity to show our incoming students the immense value Avila places on service with the dear neighbor,” said Dave Armstrong, CSJA, Director of University Mission and Ministry. “Harvesters has been a great partner for almost two decades and we always look forward to taking our new students there to see how much of an impact their participation can have in the community.”