Creating a space for students to use their time, talent and treasure to serve in the community is at the heart of Seton Helping Saints (SHS), a student-led organization with more than 100 members at Seton High School, an all-girls Catholic school in Cincinnati.

“It’s so important to teach young people that they can have an impact and be actively involved in doing so. It’s very encouraging and hopeful to see a room overflowing with young people who are there to give to others,” said Lauren Zlatanov, Seton Communications Coordinator and the organization’s moderator.

Seton Helping Saints operates to support Seton families, community members and local nonprofits through service projects, donation drives and monetary assistance. The group typically works with 10-12 Cincinnati-based organizations annually, and its members meet monthly to complete service projects, including assembling care packages, writing cards, creating goodie bags and organizing food drives for local non-profits.

Student-board president, senior Paige Leicht, said she wanted to be part of SHS since her freshman year. “I knew this club would allow me to dedicate my time to others and meet similar people who wanted to better the world through community service.”

Junior Brooke Schneider, the club’s service coordinator, agreed. “The minute I stepped into my first meeting I knew that this was a club I wanted to join. Knowing that what we do makes an impact on others’ lives is such an amazing feeling that everyone should experience.”

SHS began in 2011 when Seton combined two existing outreach activities: the annual Wellness Walk, which raised funds for needs at the school, and the philanthropic Magnified Giving, where students researched nonprofits and voted annually on one organization to receive donated money. Zlatanov graduated from Seton in 2012 and participated in both Magnified Giving and the Wellness Walk when she attended there.

“I have grown up seeing the good that people can do when they come together for a cause or purpose greater than ourselves,” she said. “Service is one of the four pillars at Seton, and it’s inspiring to see students take time out of their day to be involved in the club when they could be doing a million other things in their busy high school lives.”

In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, Schneider said, students assembled goodie bags with stress balls, pens, chapstick, home-made bracelets and hand-written messages.

“My best friend’s mom had breast cancer, and I saw first- hand how this disease affects not only the patient but the whole family. … We saw that just doing something small can have an impact on the journey of cancer patients and their families,” Schneider said.

The club supports the Yellow Ribbon Support Center, a non-profit created by Keith Maupin in memory of his son Matt, who was captured and killed by Iraqi insurgents in 2008. The center’s mission is to support deployed troops until “they all come home,” said Bob White, Yellow Ribbon Support Center volunteer.

Every week, center volunteers send deployed service men and women care packages, including non- perishable food and personal care items. During recent drives, SHS donated 200 pounds of candy and 700 individually packed personal care items, as well as wrote cards to those overseas. To date, the support center has sent more than 35,000 boxes to deployed soldiers. “Seton Helping Saints has been a tremendous help. We are very grateful for their service. It saves us a lot of time and money, so we can focus on reaching more soldiers,” White said.

According to Leicht, the lessons she’s learned about being a servant leader go well beyond the classroom. “Community service has shaped my character and my values. Because of philanthropy, my view of the world has changed, and I have developed leadership skills and life-long goals.”

This article appeared in the December 2023 edition of The Catholic Telegraph Magazine. For your complimentary subscription, click here.