In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January 19), more than 600 Hill School students, faculty, and staff participated in a large-scale Day of Service, supporting 15-plus organizations in Pottstown and neighboring communities.
Service projects spanned a range of needs, from food security and senior support to environmental stewardship, education, health, and economic development. Students worked in teams across multiple locations, contributing thousands of service hours in a single day. Hobart’s Run staff had spent weeks reaching out to area nonprofits to identify sites looking for volunteers and coordinating the day’s events.
“Hill students were called to move from reflection to action,” remarked Alyssa Slade, Executive Director of Community Engagement and Economic Development for Hobart’s Run.
“Through engagement in projects across the Pottstown region, students had the opportunity to practice empathy and civic engagement in tangible ways,” she said. “Designed around real, identified needs, this work supported efforts already happening in Pottstown, while helping students understand that service is not just ‘showing up’ but listening and contributing to the long-term well-being of the community.”
Where service happened:
At food pantries, soup kitchens, and community hubs, volunteers prepared meals and sandwiches, stocked public food fridges, organized clothing closets, and supported meal service. At the YWCA and YMCA, students assembled more than 1,000 overdose prevention kits, prepared period product kits, sorted donations, supported soup kitchen operations, and assisted with youth and family program preparations.
Several projects focused on intergenerational engagement, with students visiting senior living communities to assist with activities, games, and room visits.
Educational and creative projects included developing STEM kits for children at the Pottstown Children’s Discovery Center, organizing Pottstown Regional Public Library materials, and painting and preparing murals at the Rickett’s Center. Environmental service teams helped with local greenhouse preparation, garden bed maintenance, and seasonal site organization.
Projects also took place on Hill’s campus, including meal preparation for Pottstown Beacon of Hope and cat and dog toy-making for regional animal shelters. A large group of students wrote letters of appreciation to healthcare workers at Tower Health Pottstown Hospital. Additionally, Hill’s basketball teams hosted their annual basketball skills clinic for about 225 local youths, and a group of students shoveled sidewalks for Borough neighbors.
Organizations served included: The Rickett’s Center, Keystone Villa, Pottstown Regional Public Library, Mission First, the YWCA and YMCA, Bethel Community Church, Be ReZilient, Pottstown Children’s Discovery Center, Trellis for Tomorrow, Manatawny Manor, Liberty Ministries Thrift, The Carousel at Pottstown, Rock Hollow Woods Environmental Learning Center, Beacon of Hope, Mainline Animal Rescue, and Pottstown Hospital.