Boys Volunteer at Terence Cardinal Cooke

On several Tuesdays each month during the year, two groups of sixth grade volunteers and I walk 12 blocks north to spend the late afternoon/early evening visiting residents of the Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center.

The boys are members of the all-volunteer "Headmaster's Community Club." They elect to spend their free time after the school day ends interacting with elderly residents, many of whom are facing a variety of challenges.

The boys engage in one-on-one conversation with residents and participate in craft projects, games, and other holiday themed celebrations.

This year 33 boys have volunteered, so many, they make their visits in two separate groups. Parent volunteers often join us as well.

I am always deeply impressed by the number of boys who willingly give of their free time and the enthusiastic spirit they bring to their visits.

It is heartwarming to watch the boys grow emotionally as they deepen their connections to the residents with each successive visit.

These visits are important to me; they reinforce the motto of our mission "that they be good men" and this year's theme: deliberate moral introspection.

To look inward in search of truth and goodness is to recognize that we must act outward in service and good will to others.

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