For nearly 20 years, St. Ursula Academy (SUA) students have participated in DRIVE. It’s not a drive on the road, but rather an internal drive. And one that is an all-encompassing effort to support Cincinnati-area organizations.

SUA’s DRIVE stands for Donate, Respond, Invest, Value and Educate. “Our Community DRIVE has been happening since the 2004-05 school year,” said Rachel Kemper, Senior Director of Service, Equity and Global Education at SUA. “Each year it has a different theme, and we support different local nonprofits.”

A 1991 alumni of St. Ursula Academy, Kemper first worked as the part-time Community Service Director at the school, during the 2003-04 school year, and her responsibilities have since expanded.

“I am a certified teacher and passionate about issues of justice,” said Kemper. “So, the facets of this job have been a great combination for me.”

Each year, DRIVE assists different organizations and has a different theme, Kemper said. Nonprofits benefiting from the 2023 DRIVE collection included Episcopal Retirement Services, Cincinnati State’s Surge Cupboard, Bethany House, St. Vincent de Paul and Mercy Neighborhood Ministry. This year’s DRIVE theme was “Grow Your Impact.”

“The students chose the theme and created a logo to go with the theme,” said Kemper. “Our departmental focus in the last few years has been to help students find their passion and figure out how they can make an impact. The theme of growing our impact is a natural fit to help students be inspired to donate to our drive!”

Senior Lauren Brunswick created this year’s DRIVE theme logo, and the program presentation sought to inspire each student to bring “sunshine into someone’s day.”

While DRIVE included physical donations, students put their faith into action in additional ways. They canvassed neighborhoods, asked others to post a DRIVE flier and sought help from family and friends. Each student was encouraged to build up a “drive” within themselves that would overcome insecurities or challenges about asking for contributions, to thus make a difference to the DRIVE campaign.

The school’s goal was to fill 20 barrels with items, and five barrels were filled per grade.

Kemper said, “It is about more than just donating items, … it is based in love as we ask students to respond by getting involved with local agencies: To invest our time, skills and resources and support those in need in Cincinnati; to value the real stories and real people we can help; and to educate ourselves and others about the needs in our community. It is to educate students about the need and the real people who are served by some great nonprofits in our city. It is also about creating a consistency of giving for our students, so it becomes something they continue to do after they graduate.”

This article appeared in the January 2024 edition of The Catholic Telegraph Magazine. For your complimentary subscription, click here.