While the coronavirus pandemic has curtailed opportunities — at least for the time being — for Westover students to work in person with some of their favorite area community service organizations, it hasn’t stopped their commitment to volunteer in their own communities.

In fact, because of the School’s hybrid educational environment, it just means that students are performing community service more often on campus … and literally around Connecticut, the United States, and the world.

Community service this fall is divided into three sections, said Robyn Ames, the Director of Community Service, with an on-campus team and two “virtual” teams, one international and one domestic.

“While it’s been disappointing for students not to be able to be at all of our wonderful service sites — the Brass City Charter School, the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Waterbury, the Little Britches Therapeutic Riding Program, and the St. Vincent DePaul Soup Kitchen, just to name a few — our students have been open to helping in other ways this fall,” Robyn noted.

In fact, Robyn added, “They continue to be passionate about service. I’ve seen the same level of commitment as I have in the past. Being involved in something outside of Zoom and homework really seems to be a positive for our students.”

For the campus team, Robyn said, “We are focusing on ways we can help our own community, starting on campus and then reaching out to those we can help remotely. Our first project was clearing up the trail system at Westover. We also have worked in the Westover community garden.”

The on-campus team has also been able to continue working with two organizations that Westover first connected with in the last year or two: Free The Girls, which helps women who are survivors of sex trafficking reintegrate into their communities, and Ben’s Bells, an organization that seeks to promote kindness within communities.

The campus team packaged up bras donated in the last year by members of the Westover community and the general public. The bras are now being shipped to Free The Girls, which distributes them among the women survivors to earn income as entrepreneurs in their communities.

Ben’s Bells is a non-profit whose mission is to spread kindness through educational programs and through creating and donating their “bells” — ceramic flower wind chimes that are painted by volunteers (including this year’s campus team) — with hand-written messages of encouragement attached that are then distributed throughout communities.

“Our next project,” Robyn said, “is the warm clothing drive for the Waterbury Baptist Ministries, which we have done for many years.”

Other students are finding a number of “safe-distance” opportunities to do community service on their own.

“Many students already had good ideas,” Robyn said, “and they are sharing their ideas and inspiring each other.”

Some examples, Robyn added, include “recording mini-concerts for nursing homes, helping the blind through an app called Be My Eyes, knitting scarves for the warm clothing drive, writing letters through a program called Word of Thanks, participating in virtual walk/runs for charity, organizing food drives, and helping in community gardens.”

In Korea, Jennifer Lee ’22 is performing community service in several different ways — all virtually from her home.

“I am volunteering for the Green Environment Conservation Federation,” she explained, “which is an organization that helps people by providing supplies related to the environment. I translate environmental books for kids who cannot afford them. I’m also volunteering for KYEN (Korean Youth English News), by working as a writer/reporter. I write articles that advertise Korean culture or report on world issues. I also volunteer for a local community welfare center.”

“I’m enjoying it,” Jennifer added. “The services require lots of time and research, so it’s different than just physical-labor-focused volunteering.”

In Rwanda, Melodie-Celeste Teta ’23 said, “I’m going to be doing a clothing drive as my community service project with Les Enfants de Dieu orphanage. I thought this would be a good idea because my family and I usually donate each year to orphanages. I will be doing it in person — while staying safe, of course!”