You may have heard of “Minute to Win It” games, but what about “Minute to Give It”? At Cristo Rey St. Viator College Preparatory High School, it’s a creative way to serve, even in short periods of time.
Natalie completes a greeting card for an elderly person in support of Helping Hands.
Mrs. Rosie Rinaldo, Director of Campus Ministry and theology teacher, had seen those one-minute games and saw similarities to service projects she’d done. “We can do weekend projects, but getting students off campus on weekdays isn’t always possible. So, what if we just did something on campus every week?” she wondered.
At Cristo Rey St. Viator – a Cristo Rey Network school founded and led by Viatorians, including Br. Carlos Flórez, CSV, Director of Catholic and Viatorian Identity – students undertake a rigorous academic program alongside their corporate work study responsibilities and the typical extracurricular activities and social lives of high school. To help keep service prominent in this equation, the school started Minute to Give It service projects: a small-scale service action students can complete at a table on campus.
Cristo Rey St. Viator works with Catholic Charities on hygiene kits: Catholic Charities purchases key toiletries, and volunteers pack them into bags the agency distributes to clients. They brought that project on campus, and Cristo Rey St. Viator then turned to its non-profit partners to devise similar projects. They matched with Baby’s Bounty, a resource organization for families and babies, to create encouraging cards for moms, and Helping Hands, a support agency for seniors, to compose notes for elderly people. They set up a station where students can create items that can be bundled and passed along to partners.
For this Minute to Give It, sophomores assemble Catholic Charities hygiene kits on campus and add positive notes to their bundles.
As Viatorian schools form young people in service-learning, things like Minute to Give It help students begin developing a service mindset. “It’s the first layer to get them aware of providing something for someone who needs it. Then we can build on and ask questions: Where is this going? How can learn about this issue?” Mrs. Rinaldo explained. “For now, it’s a quick, easy way, right in front of campus ministry, to engage them in service.”
Students have responded positively to the simple structure, self-guided direction, and easy participation. Mrs. Rinaldo hopes to continue finding partners, offering new activities, and incorporating more student leaders to assist with outreach and peer education. She is excited by the zeal she sees in her youngest students. “This freshmen class this year has an energy behind them where they want to serve. They want to be involved, and that is a perfect trait for us to build on with this,” Mrs. Rinaldo said.
Mrs. Rosie Rinaldo, CRSV Director of Campus Ministry and theology teacher
Campus ministry will keep doing its part forming young people to put Catholic, Viatorian faith in action. “Service to people who are marginalized and to people accounted of little importance is everything. In theology, we touch upon social justice and educate students, and then we can demonstrate how we can do service, even if it’s not a big, grand thing every time. Offering experiences from social justice to music ministry to liturgical leadership is so important,” Mrs. Rinaldo said.
Ultimately, she sees her role as walking with and standing behind her students. “It’s about empowerment and helping them to bring their dreams and feedback to fruition through campus ministry in our school.”