The many connections between Viterbo University and the surrounding community—in particular Viterbo’s students—are almost impossible to quantify. With the myriad activities putting the university’s service-oriented values into action, there are few corners of the community left untouched by Viterbo students.

Even with the limits required by a pandemic, Viterbo students are finding a way to serve and connect with the community. Before the 2020-21 school year had even started, more than 300 Viterbo students spent a good chunk of the last Saturday before classes helping out with one of 27 Service Saturdays projects. Chief organizer Colin Burns-Gilbert, Viterbo’s director of orientation and engagement, said it was the most students by far to take part in a Service Saturdays event in his time at the university.

This year’s orientation Service Saturday even featured several first-time collaborations, including the Boy Scouts, Onalaska Care Center, and Powell-Poage-Hamilton Neighborhood Association. A project at the Kane Street Community Garden building raised beds so people who use wheelchairs or walkers can enjoy working in the garden attracted attention from both local TV stations.

Other projects included maintenance projects at Place of Grace, baking cookies to show appreciation for emergency responders, campus beautification, mask making, blanket tying, and letter writing, to name a few. “Service takes many forms, and sometimes that form is more education and advocacy instead of direct actionable tasks we often think of when we talk about service and volunteering,” Burns-Gilbert said.

Service Saturdays happen monthly throughout the school year, and the volunteers also include faculty, staff, and friends of the university.

Students find numerous other ways to be of service to the community, putting into action one of Viterbo’s five core values. Here is a taste of what they’re doing for the greater good from the nursing school alone:

• Members of the Viterbo Student Nurses Association collect donations for needy families and write cards to long-term care facility residents and military members at Christmas time, make blankets for people who are homeless, volunteer at first aid stations for community events, and more.
• Nursing students in a sophomore health assessment class volunteer at food pantries and the community gardens. From what they learn about food available from these facilities for those in need, they create a three-day menu plan.
• Students in the Death and Dying course have organized and led four “Death Café” discussion groups in partnership with the Franciscan Spirituality Center.
• Students in gerontological nursing courses get involved in many agencies and programs that provide assistance for the elderly population, including the county Aging and Disability Resource Center, the Alzheimer’s Association, Coulee Region RSVP, the public library, and city recreation programs. Students also created and direct a Brain and Body Fitness class for people with dementia, in conjunction with the ADRC.

Faculty member Cameron Kiersch, who oversees the gerontology student projects, noted that students logged more than 1,300 hours of service during the 2019-20 school year. “The intention is to provide them with experiences outside of long-term care facilities in order to identify any barriers older adults in the community have,” Kiersch said. “It also promotes more intergenerational relations, and many students have continued to serve after they’ve fulfilled requirements, on their own time.”