Liberty students, staff volunteer in local community for seventh annual Serve Lynchburg

 As college students all across the country spent their weekends studying for finals or hanging out with friends, 1,340 Liberty University students chose to spend Saturday serving the local community through Serve Lynchburg. One such student is sophomore Ethan Boyd.

Boyd, who serves as a residential shepherd at Liberty, spent the day raking leaves at Miller Home for Girls. This organization exists to provide a refuge and care for girls who are unable to live with their families. He said that he chose to volunteer in obedience to God’s calling for Christians to serve, as well as to challenge the rest of his hall leadership to serve alongside him.

“It really goes back to serving the Lord,” he said. “The Lord’s heart is to love all people, and the reality is that, while we’re serving here in Serve Lynchburg and signing up for slots, it’s serving real people.”

Through Serve Lynchburg, which is run each year through the LU Serve office, Liberty seeks to send out its students in partnership with local organizations such as churches, food banks, pregnancy centers, schools, community centers, and more, to provide any assistance that they can as well as share the Gospel. Saturday marked the seventh consecutive year that Liberty students, faculty, and staff have participated in the event. This year, 1,340 students volunteered, working at 84 different organizations at 92 worksites.

One of those sites was the D-Day Memorial, where 30 employees of Coca-Cola Consolidated served alongside students. Coca-Cola Consolidated was one of the key sponsors for this year’s event.

Throughout the day, members of Liberty leadership, including President Dondi Costin and his wife, Vickey, Chancellor Jonathan Falwell, Vice President of Spiritual Development Josh Rutledge, and LU Serve Executive Director Lew Weider, visited several of the work sites to encourage students.

“It’s a blessing for us as students to get to go out and serve,” said senior Caleb Vasquez. “I don’t think a lot of universities take time to go and love on and serve their community. This is just a way that we get to love on Lynchburg. It’s a great way to outreach and love on people.”

Vasquez served alongside his fellow students at Roads to Recovery, an addiction treatment center in the local area. They spent the day gardening and landscaping the grounds to ensure that the organization can continue its work of transforming lives.

Junior Alaina Every, who first participated in Serve Lynchburg last year, decided to do so again in imitation of how Christ lived His life on earth.

“I think it’s important to be the hands and feet of Jesus wherever we go and make our towels dirty just like Jesus did,” said Every, who served as a site leader for Miller Home for Girls. “If you look at Scripture, (Jesus) would never walk past someone. He was very intentional in what He did, and I think it’s important for us believers to be intentional and serve others. When it comes to spreading the Gospel, it doesn’t always have to be directly (sharing verbally) what the Gospel is, but in our actions and the loving others in the way that He loves.”

Chancellor Falwell echoed this sentiment, highlighting the important role that the city of Lynchburg has had in the founding and growth of the university.

“The Bible tells us to whom much is given, much is required,” he said. “Liberty has been blessed with not only the facilities we have, but also the students and faculty we have. We have a responsibility to give back to the community that helped birth the school. For all of our students, faculty, and staff to be involved in the community and go beyond our borders and make a difference for people who are not connected to Liberty at all is an important part of not only the Liberty experience, but of the Christian experience. We are required to be in the world and bless the world and bring the light of Christ wherever we might go.”

Not only does Serve Lynchburg provide a meaningful way for students to give back to the community, it also allows them to better understand the struggles that others deal with daily.

“A lot of people don’t understand or empathize with people who aren’t in their same situation,” sophomore Jamie Meritt said. “When you serve an area, you can experience just a little bit of what others have to go through, and it gives you that empathetic heart that when you are older and more privileged, you can want to help people more.”

Later that evening, students gathered in the LaHaye Parking Lot for a time of fellowship and fun at the Student Activities After Party. This event included live music, food vendors, carnival rides, and more.