Service to others - in school, community, and country - as envisioned by our founder, Edward Hopkins, remains an important element in the life of today's Hopkins students. The Director of Service identifies needs within the greater New Haven area and, with the help of Maroon Key (Hopkins' oldest student-run club), empowers the larger student body to address them. Hopkins students regularly serve as tutors in two local magnet elementary schools, sell baked goods for AIDS Project New Haven, sponsor two blood drives each year, work on-site with Habitat for Humanity and volunteer at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Within the past 5 years, our student-organized fundraiser for the Connecticut Food Bank has donated more than $300,000 towards meals for families all over the state. In addition, each year every member of the Senior class, along with faculty and staff, dedicate 4 full days before graduation to local service projects. That's over 4,000 hours of service in a single week!
The following is a more detailed list of service projects in which Hopkins students regularly participate:
- Aracy's Friends - create art & writing projects with children at Yale New Haven Hospital
- Columbus House - prepare and serve dinner at a local shelter. Click here for instructions.
- Elementary School Tutoring - tutor at Mauro-Sheridan and Davis Street Elementary Schools
- Habitat for Humanity - volunteer with local HFH affiliates and work on providing affordable houses to residents of New Haven
- Peer Tutoring - tutor Hopkins students who want help with a specific subject
- Read to Grow - present books to elementary school children and their libraries
- Red Cross Blood Drive - host blood drive for students, faculty, families, and neighbors
- St. Luke's Clothing & Holiday Gift Drive - give clothing donations and gifts to local young people during the fall and holiday seasons
Hopkins students and faculty embrace service with eagerness and enthusiasm. Spanning a wide-reaching collection of activities both on and off campus, service is run in part by students, with the advice and oversight of faculty advisers. The unusually high number of volunteers is a testimony that "today, as [more than three centuries ago,] Hopkins aspires to be a community of civility and learning," with Hopkins students eager to help others as well as their peers.
For more information, please contact Alissa Davis, Director of Service, 203.397.1001 (ext. 716).