F.I.R.S.T. Program Hosts Community Fun Day, School Supply Giveaway (PHOTOS)

Forty incoming University of Scranton students traded a week of summer break for a week of service, highlighted by a Community Fun Day and back-to-school supply giveaway for local families.

The University of Scranton's F.I.R.S.T. (First Years Involved in Reflective Service Together) program brought together incoming students, community partners and local families on Tuesday, Aug. 25, for Community Fun Day at Novembrino Park.

The free community event featured food, face painting, games, children's activities and the distribution of school supplies to help local families prepare for the upcoming school year. University student volunteers helped organize and facilitate activities throughout the day, reinforcing F.I.R.S.T.'s mission of service, reflection and community engagement.

The University's Center for Service and Social Justice (CSSJ) and Friends of the Poor and the Catherine McAuley Center partnered in organizing the event.

"We have 40 first-year students who moved in a week early to participate in local service trips with the Scranton community, and they are led by an upperclass student team of 12 students," said Avianna Carilli '22, CSSJ coordinator of domestic and international service programs. "Throughout this week, we are visiting about eight different nonprofit organizations. But today, we're all working to collaborate and bring everyone together to put on a great event for our community."

The 40 F.I.R.S.T. volunteers span more than a dozen declared majors and five states (Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York). The service sites where they are working this week include the Gino J. Merli Veterans Center, St. Joseph's Center, NeighborWorks, CHOP Out Hunger and the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Northeast Regional Food Bank.