Photo of Benedictine scholars at Our Common Home Farms

Service and community engagement

  1. Student Life
  2. Spiritual Life & Service
  3. Service and community engagement

At Saint Martin's, we strive to make a positive difference in the world through life-changing community partnerships, advocacy, and promoting respect and dignity for all. 

Narratives Around Service Projects 

by Emma Scotthanson, '25

At a Benedictine Catholic university, service is not merely a set of actions—it is a practice deeply rooted in community, humility and the pursuit of justice. Developing narratives around service projects allows us to reflect deeply on the "why" behind our work, the people we meet along the way, and how our experiences shape our understanding of faith and humanity. Our University's three foundational aspects of service, charity, relationship and advocacy each hold a unique role in this storytelling process. 

Charity often initiates the journey. Volunteering at a local food bank, working on our community farm to provide fresh produce, or donating food to those in need are all tangible ways to address immediate needs. However, when we share the stories behind these actions, who we served, what we observed and how we were moved, we begin to uncover the deeper human connections at play. Narratives help transform simple giving into meaningful encounters that honor the dignity of those we serve. 

“Going on these service [opportunities] is really beneficial, being able to help those people in need meant a lot to both them and me… To be trusted as a leader of school service projects has really helped me find my path as a student, especially in my [first] year.” 

- Belle Goodman, '28 

Relationships are at the heart of our service immersion experiences, such as visits to the L'Arche Tahoma Hope community, whose mission is “to make known the gifts of people with intellectual disabilities revealed through mutually transforming relationships.” The home has a farm where many of them work and produce their own food. On trips to Los Angeles, we visit a K-12 school, but also Homeboys Industries, founded by Fr. Greg Boyle, which helps individuals transition out of incarceration and gang life. These initiatives move beyond charity into mutual presence and accompaniment. The community farm also fosters relationships between students, faculty and local families as we work side by side, rooted in our shared care for creation. Sharing stories from these experiences reminds us that service is not just about offering help but about allowing ourselves to be transformed by others. 

Advocacy calls us to raise our voices. Whether through social work, protests, letter-writing campaigns or meetings with congresspeople, we speak on behalf of and alongside the marginalized. Narratives are essential here. They humanize the issues, educate others, and remind policymakers that behind every policy is a person with a life. Storytelling in advocacy is how we move hearts as well as laws. 

Through each service layer, we carry stories of solidarity, struggle, and shared hope. In the Benedictine tradition, these stories are not just memories. They testify to our call to live out the Gospel through justice, compassion and community. By honoring the narratives within our service, we transform the world around us and the world within us.

Service & Leadership Opportunities

Ongoing charity opportunities:

Community Kitchen

Community Kitchen is a year-round service opportunity where members of the Saint Martin’s community prepare, serve and clean up dinner at the Community Kitchen in downtown Olympia on the first Friday of every month. All volunteers need to be 18 or older to join. We meet at the bottom of the Grand Staircase at Old Main by Lot S at 2:30pm and are expected to return at about 7:00pm. Transportation is provided.

Sign up to volunteer at Community Kitchen

Thurston County Food Bank

Thurston County Food Bank is a service opportunity where students volunteer by organizing food on the shelves and boxes that are given to people and families who are experiencing food insecurity. The Food Bank Core Philosophies are eliminating access barriers, prioritizing health, prioritizing children, rescuing good food from going to waste, partnership and collaboration. We meet at the bottom of the Grand Staircase at Old Main by Lot S at 1:30pm and are expected to return at about 4:30pm. Transportation is provided.

Sign up to volunteer at Thurston County Food Bank

Saint Martin's University Farm

The Saint Martin's University Farm works to care for our common home in three ways: to provide nutrient-dense, locally grown and ethically produced food within our community, especially for those in most need; to educate on sustainable agricultural practices, the relationship between good food and good health, and the responsibilities inherent within the communion of each individual with the human family and the natural world; and to build climate change resilience in the areas of food production, the creation of habitat, and the mitigation of climate change processes. We meet at the bottom of the Grand Staircase at Old Main by Lot S at 9am and are expected to return at about 12pm. Transportation is provided.

Sign up to volunteer at the Saint Martin's University Farm

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Relationship

Relationship

Relationship as service sometimes is a difficult concept to grasp. How is the connection with others a part of service?  Community Living, one of our Benedictine Values, is defined as "To become who we are by our relationships to others." This can be seen in a number of ways on campus, and one way explore this is through our service immersion trips. During these trips, we do some charity and discuss advocacy, but the service we are seeing unfold is relational, listening to others' stories and learning from them. We leave having been served through the love, hospitality, and beauty of the other in front of us. We encourage you to consider attending a service immersion trip, offered through the ED495 course taught each semester.

Still not convinced? Read what other students had to say about their experience on their service immersion trips:

  • "The immersion trip... was an experience that changed the way I viewed service and changed my understanding of what a community is. This trip brings you out of your comfort zone and changes your worldview." - Brandon Tuato'o, ‘25, ‘26
  • "Every moment has been seared into my heart, mind, body and soul... I am incapable of going back to who I was because I have been forever changed." - Anonymous
  • "If others intend on embarking on this type of experience, I’d advise them to prepare themselves to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. It wasn’t an easy journey but it was surely fulfilling! Don’t expect to be the same person you were before the trip." - Sara Saimon, ‘27
  • "This trip gave me more insight on what service and immersion truly means... I would describe this experience as life-changing and eye-opening. It had brought me great joy and challenged many preconceived notions that I had." - Erica Garrett, ‘26
  • "It’s transformative, it makes you view the world in a way that you normally wouldn’t. The experience reveals realities that we are often blind to, and help us understand why we were blind to them." - Josiah Tiblow, ‘28 

For more information, please email emily.alberts@stmartin.edu.

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Advocacy

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Student Ambassadors

Faith in action will see results. This leadership program empowers Catholic students (and is open to students of all beliefs) from more than 100 universities across the country to advocate for justice within Catholic Social Teaching by mobilizing our campus communities. Stay in touch with our CRS Student Ambassadors on Facebook and Instagram.

Four main themes:

  • Climate change
  • Global hunger
  • Human trafficking
  • Migration

Fill out the CRS interest form

Discover your way to serve

Immersion opportunities

Service programs situate students in direct contact with local, regional and international communities where they address real needs and promote social change. Whether participating in service immersion programs or volunteer and community service projects, students become engaged citizens within their chosen vocations.

Academic service-learning

Spanning the curriculum, our academic service-learning experiences interweave experiential learning within the classroom with engagement with off-campus communities. These programs enhance interpersonal and critical thinking skills and encourage students to connect academic learning with real-world problems and solutions.

Post-grad service

Service can continue after college! Saints can listen with the ear of their heart to learn new skills, live in a new community, embody the B-Vals and act on social justice. Here a few websites you can explore:

Echo Graduate Service Program Postgraduate Opportunity

Scott Boyle from Notre Dame’s Echo Graduate Service Program is looking to connect with students who might be interested in a transformative, two-year postgraduate service program that serves the Catholic Church. During two summers, Echo students work toward a tuition-free Master of Arts in Theology at Notre Dame. During the year, Echo students live in intentional faith community with other Echo students and serve in full-time ministry in Catholic parishes or teach theology in Catholic middle schools or high schools. Each student receives professional and spiritual formation as well as a generous yearly stipend, health insurance, free housing and utilities (both on-campus and off) and an educational allowance in support of their work and formation. 

Want to learn more? 

Use this link to connect with him and learn more about Echo. All years are welcome to inquire!

Other opportunities:

Meet with the Center for Career and Calling to get support while you discern your vocation. If you have any questions or would like help seeking out service opportunities, please email Emily Alberts at emily.alberts@stmartin.edu.

Questions? We can help!

Office of Campus Ministry

Campus Ministry at Saint Martin’s University accompanies and supports you as you explore and grow spiritually through experiences that are rooted in our core values of faith, reason, service and community. Together with our monastic community, student affairs and academic partners, community-based volunteer and immersion service opportunities, we are dedicated to hospitality for all without exception, as we promote and share the many gifts flowing from our Benedictine charism and Catholic faith.