Mercy High School Volunteering Program

Mercy High School Nurtures the Spirit of Volunteerism

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” — Mahatma Gandhi

Spencer Flynn is the student body president at Mercy High School, a Catholic high school in Red Bluff, CA. During his sophomore year, Spencer began volunteering at Villa Columba, an affordable housing community for senior citizens. “The first time I volunteered at Villa Columba, I was pretty nervous,” says Spencer. “I didn’t know what to expect. I thought that all the people living there would be a bunch of crazy old people. I immediately saw how wrong my initial assumption was. The residents of Villa Columba are an amazing group of people.”

Students like Spencer often begin a new volunteer venture to meet graduation requirements. John Davis, Mercy High’s principal, says students must log 80 volunteer service hours throughout their four years in high school to graduate. Although the hours might give students’ college applications extra shine, Principal Davis describes “giving back to the community” as “part of our Catholic identity,” and explains the requirements help cultivate students’ characters as they learn kindness toward others. Monique Espinosa, a sophomore at Mercy High, says the volunteer requirements have “always benefitted” her and made her “a more grateful person.”

Many of the 88 teens at Mercy High attended Sacred Heart Parish School and STREAM Academy for elementary school and junior high. The three schools require an hour of volunteer service per year beginning on the elementary level. For example, third graders volunteer for three hours, with a student’s commitment increasing with kids’ growing capacities. Although the requirements become greater in high school, students have already gained awareness of the importance of volunteering. For freshman Edward Fuchs, volunteering has become second nature. “If you have free time and nothing better to do,” says Edward, “Why not spend it helping the less fortunate?”

Students log their hours through MobileServe, a volunteer-tracking app used in 49 states. According to mobileserve.com, “MobileServe users have logged more than 300,000 hours of service with an economic impact of more than $8 million on their communities.” Mercy High students have certainly contributed to this impressive total; Principal Davis says some kids “rack up over 200 hours throughout their high school careers.”

Mercy High does not merely require students to give their time, but to reflect on their experiences. Students complete annual portfolios and write essays to communicate what they have learned and how they have grown spiritually and emotionally through their volunteer work. Students also present their experiences to a panel of business and community leaders each year. Principal Davis says the presentations often allow students to build relationships with community members, sometimes resulting in beneficial internships.

Students find volunteer opportunities through the Chamber of Commerce, postings on MobileServe, the school’s daily announcements, or through Mercy High’s longstanding relationships with organizations such as North Valley Catholic Social Services and Rotary. The school challenges students to recognize and respond to a range of needs by requiring students to volunteer at approved local organizations and events and at the high school itself. “Mowing the lawn for Grandma doesn’t qualify as volunteering,” Principal Davis says. “That is a family responsibility.”

Spencer notices that “high schoolers often think that their problems are the absolute worst thing that could ever happen and that everyone should be worrying about them and caring for them when that really isn’t the case.” Volunteering can act as a kind of antidote to this problem. In Spencer’s words, volunteering “gives students a new perspective on life and the struggles that people go through. This new perspective helps students learn how blessed they are. Service to others shows high schoolers the positive impact that all people can have.”

Often as they serve, Mercy High students learn that giving returns to benefit the giver. Spencer says the Villa Columba residents have “brought a lot of joy to my life. I just hope that I have had as positive an impact on them as they have on me.” For Monique, volunteering with her father and friends at a local soup kitchen often means creating memories and laughing together. But even in moments that aren’t exactly “fun,” Monique sees value in volunteering. “It’s important for the younger generation to volunteer,” Monique says. “Even if the work is boring and you don’t find joy while doing it, it helps others.”

By the time they graduate, Mercy High students view volunteering as a way of life. Many current students are children of alumni, and Principal Davis says these parents and other alumni often return to volunteer at the school. Others take their volunteer skills to new communities. Regardless of location, Principal Davis says, “the fundamental idea is to love our neighbors as we want to be loved, to do right by our community, to help each other out.”