Day of Service Brings Communities Closer Together

11/8/2023

“It can impact someone's life for the better.”

It was as simple as that for Serena Sharma ’25 and the reason she and more than 200 volunteers from the school community participated in the second annual Family Weekend Day of Service. The event, hosted by Masters and MISH, took place on Saturday, November 4.

Associate Dean of Wellness and Purposeful Engagement Elena Olivieri worked with upper and middle school students from MISH to organize the daylong event. The students partnered with local organizations, including Children’s Village, My Sister’s Place, Little Shop of Kindness, The Sharing Shelf, AFYA Foundation, Feeding Westchester, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Grassroots Grocery and The Osborn.

“It was all about how our community could get deeply involved with the different organizations’ missions and goals,” Olivieri explained. “We are honoring our commitment to building sustainable relationships with these groups instead of one-off relationships.”

Sharma spent her day organizing various activities. “We were able to successfully pack several meal boxes for families and draw on the boxes to make their Thanksgiving a little brighter,” she said. “For Make-A-Wish, we wrote notes and made snack bags. For AFYA's event, we packed medical supplies into bags so that we could ship them to those who need them most right now.”

Olivieri refers to the Masters community as generous and humble. “What impressed me most was the outcome of the event. Parents who didn’t know each other were coming together and collaborating for a common cause,” she said. “When Thanksgiving meal boxes weren’t full enough, they went out to buy more food at Costco to make sure those boxes were full.”

According to Olivieri, messages of gratitude from the organizations have started to pour in.

Olivieri is already gearing up for MISH’s Holiday Toy Drive with Children’s Village: “The overarching theme of being a power for good is best carried out by listening and observing with what’s needed so we can plan purposeful and intentional action.”