As high schoolers join JustServe clubs and do service for others, they are finding friends, connecting with the community and finding out that service is joyful.
Leaders of high school JustServe clubs in Utah met with members of the JustServe Advisory Council in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Nov. 6, to speak about their service experiences.
The advisory council is made up of leaders from a variety of charitable organizations and other enterprises with a focus on volunteer service. JustServe is a free website and app where community organizations list their service needs and where volunteers can find service opportunities around them.
JustServe has 293 high school clubs in the United States and 29 in Utah, reported a news release from ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Tate Keddington, who is the president of the JustServe club at Woods Cross High School in Woods Cross, Utah, joined the club last year.
“That’s when I realized, ‘Whoa, service is awesome,’” Tate said. “It’s so fun to be able to make a difference in your community and see the impact and just feel the joy that you’re bringing to others. I loved it.”
The club’s vice president, Brooklyn Bradley, said small acts of kindness go a long way.
“It’s been amazing for me to see how just taking like 10 to 15 minutes out of my day can help change these people’s lives and help them forever,” she said. “This JustServe club has had a huge impact. I love doing service with all my friends.”
Their club has 150 students, who this year have focused on helping their school’s teen center for students in need. They have raised money, donated supplies and assembled snack packs.
Meanwhile, the 186 members of the JustServe club at Mountain Ridge High School in Herriman, Utah, made blankets for children in hospitals and organized a trash cleanup at their school.
Rachel Merrill helps lead the club. “I think service is awesome, and lots of kids really do want to get into it. JustServe is a good way for them to meet new friends and connect while doing something good.”
The JustServe club at Corner Canyon High School in Draper, Utah, has written birthday cards for veterans this year. They have 113 members in the club, which is currently working on a project to help kids in Utah foster care.
Student Jaxon Luttrell said: “I think this is so cool that we have an organized way to just do service. And anyone can come. It does not matter your background or who you are, what you like. It’s just a way for people to make friends and connect.”
During the Wednesday night gathering at The Gateway, the group also watched the documentary “Lift: Connecting Humanity,” which features several members of the JustServe Advisory Council.
Elder Brian K. Taylor, General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the Utah Area presidency, spoke to the group before the film.
“There’s a scripture that keeps coming to my mind — and we all know the scripture,” Elder Taylor said. “It says that Jesus went about doing good (see Acts 10:38). And that’s what JustServe is all about.”
See more coverage of JustServe clubs in the Church News below.
- Provo High School JustServe Club reaches 1,000 hours of service; sets new goals for this year
- 1st JustServe club on Oahu formed by 16-year-old
- Service can be contagious: JustServe clubs are growing in numbers in Southern California
- California high school JustServe club strives to draw community closer
- Meet the ‘Service Dudes’ — 2 young men who began a club to serve others around Arizona
- High schoolers form JustServe clubs and reap the blessings of service
- Teenagers give advice on how to start a JustServe school club
- ‘Service corner’ opens at Southern Virginia University with help of JustServe
- How youth and young adults are using JustServe, from high school clubs to service projects
- Church News podcast, episode 129: How JustServe is blessing the world, one project at a time
- Church News podcast, episode 78: How youth and young adults are changing lives using JustServe
- Church News podcast, episode 62: Service at Christmas and beyond, with JustServe Global Manager Heath Bradley
