Two service learning teams from Southwestern College recently traveled to Philadelphia and Portland, Ore.

“Service Learning teams at Southwestern College hold three threads of learning and practice in common, which are classroom learning, service work, and travel,” says Brae Wood, director of Leadership Southwestern.  “We believe the combination of those three things facilitate the best learning  and development for our students.  Hence, each of our teams (Leadership and Discipleship) took a service trip as part of the travel component.”

The Leadership team traveled to Philadelphia and worked with three organizations, The Salvation Army, Share Food, and Front Step.  
•    For The Salvation Army, members worked at a warehouse for a day sorting new toys into appropriate age groups and categories. These donated toys are handed out to kids during the Christmas season.  They were able to sort, box, and label all their donations in the warehouse. 
•    For Share Food, the team packaged 1,401 boxes of food commodities (each box was 30 pounds of food).  
•     For Front Step, the team worked with a pastor from Front Step to clean up a neighborhood and park.

“Each year the Leadership team embarks on a service learning trip where members get to experience a new part of the world and simultaneously serve,” Wood says.  “Following a four-year rotation, students have the opportunity to participate in trips in outdoors locations, international site, Kansas, and urban areas. These trips allow students to serve culturally diverse populations and learn more about what it means to be a leader in a global society.”

The Discipleship team traveled to Portland, Ore.

“Our trip was organized through Kaleo Missions in Portland and they housed our team and organized our mission experiences for the week,” says Molly Just, director of Discipleship.  “Together we clocked more than 500 service hours.”
•    Much of this time was spent serving alongside ministries that feed and clothe the homeless population.  These ministries included St. Andre Bessette Catholic Church and Union Gospel Mission. The team helped prepare and serve food at both locations and also helped clean up and distribute clothing and other commodities throughout the week.
•    Members spent time helping at the Oregon Food Bank where the team separated food for distribution, and worked with Women’s Life Change, a Beaverton, Ore., organization that is an extended, on-site living program for women coming out of abuse, addiction, and homelessness. At Women’s Life Change the team toured the building, learned about the program, met residents, helped paint offices, and helped prepare for the program graduation.
•    The team also attended the Real Life Exhibit hosted by Medical Teams International.  According to Just, it brought to life the experiences of refugees and impoverished people around the world. “It was a learning experience that prompted our team to see the world with different eyes,” she says.

Both teams were able to enjoy iconic locations in each city.  In Philadelphia the Leadership team visited the Liberty Bell, the Benjamin Franklin Museum and burial grounds, Christ Church, and the Philadelphia Zoo.  The Discipleship team visited local food trucks, grabbed an iconic pink box of Voodoo Doughnuts, went to Powell’s Books (the world’s largest independent bookstore), and went to Multnomah Falls.