Brother Robert Carberry summarized the Holy Cross mission with one simple question: “What do you need?” This question has shaped the Saint Francis service program as we know it, honoring the values that Br. Carberry stood for. Saint Francis has continued to carry out his legacy through service learning trips and required volunteer hours. Yet, a problem has begun to arise within the last few years: how can students easily obtain these hours and serve their communities to the best of their ability? Service Club provides a solution.
Service Club was founded in 2024 by Avani Thakur (’27) as a response to the difficulties her peers faced regarding the fulfillment of their service hours. “Upon speaking with freshmen coming into high school, it was obvious that they were extremely daunted by the service hour requirements. Sophomores [and juniors] are given service learning trips… so I wanted to found [a club] that would give everyone equal opportunity to serve organizations,” said Thakur. A passionate volunteer in her community, Thakur was determined to change the way people viewed these required hours. If students actually looked forward to carrying out acts of service, rather than viewing them as a chore, more would care about making a difference. Thakur spoke to Associate Activities Director Mr. Grant Lucas, and the two went back and forth on various ideas before settling on one that targeted the wider school community—Service Club. Today, Service Club has over one hundred members and has successfully provided access to over fifty service hours. In 2024, the club held two major events for homeless veterans, an event for kit-making for underprivileged children, two events during Compassion Week, a toy drive, and a card-making session.
In order to fulfill their mission in providing the most and best number of opportunities, Service Club has partnered with Food4All. The Saint Francis chapter of Food4All was founded by sophomores Gemma Liang and Ananya Ghatak, who had reached out to the original founders of Food4All—students from Los Altos High School. Food4All has various chapters located throughout Bay Area high schools, and Liang and Ghatak believed that this organization’s mission aligned beautifully with Saint Francis’s BRIC values. Today, the Saint Francis Food4All chapter falls under Service Club, and together they work to combat food insecurity and bring awareness to this topic.
In the future, Service Club plans to hold a “Servathon” for the students of Saint Francis. When curating this idea, Thakur was inspired by school events such as hackathons. A “Servathon” would be a one-to-two day event focused solely on serving the people of our local community. Her goal is to bring Bay Area speakers from nonprofit organizations to inspire club members, encouraging their hard work and efforts. Each day would bring various service activities to participate in both on and off campus, infusing service into school culture. This is a prime example of how students create positive solutions out of issues they see in their school environment.
