by Kaitlin Vlosich ’25

What is your love language? For me, it’s acts of service. Nothing makes me feel more loved than when people take time out of their day to do something to make me happy, small or big. And I love doing acts of service for others. Your love language might not be the same, but acts of service mean so much to so many people, especially to those in need.

When I first participated in service projects at Dominican, I didn’t think that my one box of instant potatoes or can of green beans or the $20 I contributed to a Christmas present for a young child would actually make a difference in anyone’s life. But now, I can’t stress enough to you that it really does have an impact. Let me give you an example. August 23rd, 2005 – six days before Hurricane Katrina, and also the day my older brother was born. My mom tells me the story of how she sat in a hospital bed, cradling her newborn baby as her mom frantically told her that they needed to evacuate. Of course, she didn’t want to. She had a newborn baby with asthma, and all of her baby supplies were at her house. Nonetheless, she finally agreed to leave, but as I mentioned earlier, she had no supplies. Additionally, when she came home, everything was shut down, and the power remained off for weeks. These were uncharted waters for everyone in New Orleans, but the added layer of a sick newborn baby was certainly a lot to handle. She didn’t know how she would care for her baby. But thanks to other people’s acts of service, she was able to care for my brother. People from all over the country, and even from Canada, donated baby clothes, diapers, wipes, formula, and anything my mom needed with a newborn. My mom was so incredibly grateful for people’s generosity. And let me tell you. She wouldn’t have cared if someone had donated onepack of baby wipes or one baby bottle. That was one pack of wipes she used and one baby bottle she didn’t have. It’s been 19 years since, and she hasn’t forgotten the impact of people’s generosity. In a low moment when she didn’t know how she’d be able to manage, God revealed Himself through other people’s kindness.

What a lot of people don’t realize is that service doesn’t just mean helping somebody’s physical needs. It means helping their mental state, giving them hope, and so much more. The diapers, bottles, wipes, and clothes were obviously extremely helpful for my mom to be able to provide for her six day–old baby, but it also alleviated my mom’s anxiety. In the same way, our service to our community means more than just giving someone a meal. It means alleviating a little bit of their food insecurity, helping them feel loved, and allowing them to recognize that they have dignity and worth simply because of their human nature and that they are not defined by their situation.

Doing acts of service means hearing the cry of God. Matthew 25: 35-40 is the basis for the Corporal Works of Mercy, and it’s also what God will use on judgement day. When you get to the pearly gates, how do you want to be greeted? I want Jesus to look at me and say to me the words of Matthew 25: 34-36. I want him to say to me: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.”

And how do we get welcomed in this way? Verse 40 in particular says, “whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” This is exactly what our service projects strive to do and what you have the opportunity to participate in at Dominican, and I encourage you not to take this for granted. When you have the opportunity to help people in need, take it and make the most of it!

I know it can be hard to feel like you’re making an impact, but I can tell you – you’re making a difference. The pillar of service is my favorite because the Dominican service projects bring me so much joy. Since freshman year, I’ve been delivering the Thanksgiving baskets to our community, and it has been so rewarding and worth it. It sounds cliché, but nothing compares to the joy on people’s faces when they realize that they can celebrate Thanksgiving when they thought they weren’t going to. That is the moment they realize that God never abandoned them and that He’s shown up in the form of teenage girls. I also had the opportunity to distribute Adopt-a-Family gifts to the Audubon Retirement Village this past December, and once again, it truly changed my perspective on the impact of our service. I want to share with you one more story about a woman who received your gifts. I was about to go into her room when the nurse told me that she was hard of hearing and almost completely nonverbal. But when I went inside and gave her the Christmas gifts, she simply began to sob with joy. She couldn’t articulate her gratitude with words, but in this moment, words were not needed. I could tell by her sobs that she had been struggling and that she had never expected to receive a Christmas gift, but we made it possible. Her reaction gave me and the nurse chills. I was moved by your generosity, and I know she was, too. My point is: the service we do has impact – a big impact on our community.  And I want you all to know that through our service, we show people a glimmer of hope in their darkness.

Second Harvest relies on us heavily to bring in food items. Most of their donations come in around Thanksgiving, and our food drive helps meet a critical need in the spring and summer. Remember that these food items are going to people in our community, just like you and me. People truly rely on Second Harvest to feed themselves and their families. With our donations and our service, we give people strength and hope.

There’s one day left of the canned food drive. One day to donate food items that will have an impact beyond your understanding. One day to make someone feel human, to give them hope, to make a difference in our fallen world. One day left to give love.  Seize this opportunity. Serve God by feeding others.