Sophomore Impact Week, which took place January 26 to 30, was designed to teach students about the extent of poverty and hunger both in our country and around the world.

Sophomores volunteered at food pantries and soup kitchens, restocking canned goods and participating in serving meals to the hungry.   Others worked in schools, tutoring underprivileged children or assisting with school improvement projects.  According to Campus Minister Mr. Greg Welch, the program offered students opportunities to show their love and care for other people, which in turn will have an impact on their lives.

Impact Week is new to the Mount Carmel community this year.  The freshman class experienced a week of service to the environment last fall, emphasizing the social justice mandate to “care for God’s creation.”  Juniors will experience their Impact Week in early March, which will focus on the value of human solidarity and “the dignity of each person.”  Collectively, the three three Impact Weeks replace the program of counting “service hours” in favor of a more holistic and reflective group experience.

While his class did not have the Impact Week experience while at Mount Carmel, Senior Keanu Rodriguez agrees that students need “different” events like this to keep them connected to each other and the people around them. He hopes that the underclassmen grow in their appreciation of service and in their understanding of others.  He also feels it’s a chance for students “to have fun learning about the world outside of which they live.”

Another senior, Lawrence Cochran, who has personal experience volunteering at the St. Martin de Porres soup kitchen, agrees.  “Learning how others live and helping them through some obstacles is the best feeling in the world.”

Welch, who along with many other faculty and staff accompanied sophomores to seven different service sites during  Impact Week, is confident that the experience will have great “impact” both for the community and the class.