Community Service

Volunteer Opportunities

Do you remember waving your hand enthusiastically showing your willingness to help? That hand raising gesture so early on in your life demonstrated a willingness to volunteer. Here are some of the reasons why volunteering is so important to you and others:

• To help someone
• To improve the community
• To move from your comfort zone
• To build new relationships
• To enhance your resume and establish community connections

Mission Trips

Our annual, week-long mission trips result in positive, life-changing experiences for students who participate. If interested, you will need to fill out an application and submit it to Campus Ministry.

Lending a Hand  - January

A week-long community service experience at the conclusion of the fall semester each year. The travel group typically consists of 25 to 35 students plus faculty/staff. The trip is coordinated by Rev. Jan Mahle. The team is selected during the spring semester. Applications are available in Campus Ministry. 

Alternative Spring Break - March

Spend a week in Pittsburgh with 10 to 12 other students and a staff advisor performing community service. Recent projects include working at an inner-city Boy Scout Camp and providing services to the homeless.

Local Service Projects

The D'Youville community helps meet the needs of many different agencies and populations in Buffalo. Here are a few:

• Adopt a Grandparent – socialize with adult residents at Mary Agnes Manor and/or Santa Maria Towers. Both residences are within our campus boundaries.  
• Friends of the Night People – serve at a local soup kitchen for the poor and homeless
• Habitat for Humanity – help build a house in the Buffalo area twice a semester
• Meals on Wheels – deliver meals to the house-bound and elderly
• Neighborhood Halloween Party – help organize a party for neighborhood children and trick-or-treat fun on campus
• York Street Clean-up and Neighborhood Beautification – help neighbors tidy up their yards and gardens

Look into additional volunteer opportunities (PDF) that arise each semester and how you can help!

Fundraising Events

Empty Bowl Project 

Bowls decorated by students, faculty and staff will be on sale February 25, 26 and 27, 2013. Proceeds from this sale will be donated to two agencies dedicated to alleviating hunger. This project is sponsored by D'Youville College Hunger Initiative.
View Flyer (PDF)

Laps for Limbs

Date: Sunday, April 28th, 2013, rain or shine
Time: 10 AM - 2 PM 
Location: St. Francis High School Track in Hamburg, NY

How it works: Recruit sponsors to donate money per lap or as a flat donation. Sign-up for a 1 hour time slot for the 28th and run/walk your laps. Then notify your sponsors and collect your donations! All proceeds will go to "The Little Pebble Foundation" and "Vets H.E.R.D" to benefit children and veterans with amputations. To participate, volunteer, donate, or for questions, email LapsforLimbs@gmail.com

Sponsored by the D'Youville College Student Veterans Association

Charity Luncheon 

Join the college community at this fun campus luncheon held annually in March. Proceeds from the meal and raffle benefit local service agencies such as St. Mary's School for the Deaf, Connors Children's Center, and Westside Ministries.

Keep Track of your Volunteer Hours

Your volunteer hours can be logged by Campus Ministry. Once you have volunteered, a record of your service is entered into the databank and you can request your volunteer record from Campus Ministry at any time. Volunteer records are useful for scholarship applications and resumes.

Enroll in the volunteer data bank
Report volunteer hours

For additional information about volunteer opportunities, contact Rev. Jan Mahle at (716) 829-7693 or email mahle@dyc.edu.

• Enroll in the Volunteer Databank
• Report Your Volunteer Hours
• Volunteer Opportunities - Summer 2013 (PDF)

Campus Ministry
Father Patrick O'Keefe, Director
Reverend Jan Mahle, Assoc. Campus Minister
Lori Marasco, Secretary

Campus location
KAB 121
Office Hours: Mon-Fri, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM
Phone: (716) 829-7672   

Lending A Hand In New Orleans

At D'Youville, there are many ways to get involved while serving others in communities near and far. Thirty one D'YCers travelled to New Orleans in December 2012 to lend a hand to Green Light New Orleans and to St. Jude's Community Center. As the city rebuilds, they are making every effort to "be green". We installed over 2000 energy efficient light bulbs under the direction of Green Light, New Orleans. Thousands of dollars will be saved by residents and harm to the environment has been reduced significantly. The team also served and caroled during a meal for the homeless at the St. Jude's Community Center. The photograph below was taken in the lower Ninth Ward which was totally underwater when the levees broke from Hurricane Katrina's storm surge.