Seniors arrived at the Chap Court at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday to pick up their Senior Service Day blue t-shirts, “Chaps” water bottles, and name tags. Just a few weeks before, the class of 2025 chose the organizations they would spend three hours, from 9-12 p.m., volunteering at for the day..  

With 36  organizations to choose from, seniors were spread out across Austin. Tasks varied from organizing closets at Gus Garcia Recreation Center to spending time with elderly ping pong players, landscaping at Laguna Gloria and cleaning up Austin’s public spaces like Town Lake Trail.

“I volunteered at the Gus Garcia Recreation Center,” senior Allen Cortes Leon said. “We helped clean out these big storage containers and multiple closets. The best part by far for me was walking around the trail and picking up trash, which was followed by a fun game of soccer.”

Many organizations assigned their volunteers with preparing spaces for the people or who use them regularly. 

“I volunteered at Laguna Gloria, we were tasked with wheelbarrowing mulch and raking it. It was pretty fun and we really enjoyed our chaperones and the new onsite cafe.” said Stephanie Nichols.

These opportunities also allowed for connections with volunteers, who got to know the communities they were helping while they were working. 

“I met with some of the landscapers along with a handful of dogs throughout my service,” Nichols said. “The people just assigned me an area to clean up trash as well, which was really fun because it was just social time while simultaneously actively supporting the place.” 

The purpose of service day is for students to realize the importance of volunteers to these nonprofit organizations and how much devoting just a few hours from the day can benefit a community. 

“Working for a nonprofit is really difficult,” Nichols said. “[Volunteering] made me realize how much work really goes into landscaping, especially in such a large area.” 

Beyond the work itself, what stood out to most seniors was just how different the day felt. Instead of sitting in a calculus class or modern physics, they were making a beneficial impact on organizations that keep the lifeblood of our city running.

“Helping people, however small it may seem, can and will impact several others in a positive way,” Cortes Leon said. “Even though my impact may have been minimal at my location, I will always remember this day because I feel like it’s one of the only times in my high school career where I have interacted physically with a random group of people in my grade.”