Community Action Day
Saturday Oct. 14, 2023
9:00 am - 2:00 pm
Meet on the Xavier Yard
Students, staff, faculty, alumni, friends and family... Come be a part of Xavier's largest day of service! ALL FOR 52!
Join us as we serve the Cincinnati community! We will meet at 9:00 am on the lawn for breakfast and to split into groups, then do service for a few hours around the city, then have lunch and reflection around 1:00 pm back on campus.
As Xavier University's largest service experience, Community Action Day, in tandem with XU-Alumni Relations and the Jesuit Parish Family’s Active Discipleship Day, invites Xavier students, faculty, staff, and alumni – regardless of where they are on their service journey – to step off campus to learn from, grow with, and serve the communities that exist beyond the confines of our university. With a focus on meaningful service accompanied by reflection, CAD seeks to spark compassion for and connection with oneself, the Xavier community past and present, local service agencies, and the neighborhoods and members of the Cincinnati community.
For more information, contact Tala Ali at alit@xavier.edu.
Alumni Participation
- Sign up to participate in Cincinnati
- Check out opportunities around the country at our events page
- Drop by and donate to The Store
Serving and Growing Together
Students reflect on the importance of being people for and with others at Community Action Day.
What does Community Action Day mean to you?
At Xavier, we always talk about how we have such a great community. But that sense of community doesn’t stop just outside the boundaries of campus; Xavier is closely tied with Norwood and the greater Cincinnati community around us in a really unique way. Community Action Day is a way to connect with that greater community, learning more about the amazing people and places that Cincinnati has to offer. To me, this means engaging in service filled with empathy, genuine connection, and care for one another.
What is your singular favorite CAD memory?
I loved volunteering at Cincinnati Toolbank- I was a site leader, and while only a few of us were volunteering at that site due to COVID, we got to meet some really awesome women who shared with us their passion for the organization and the community they serve.
What is the most important thing you've learned through this work?
Service isn’t always about doing whatever you think is going to change the world- sometimes it’s about stepping up (even if it’s uncomfortable) to lend someone a hand when they ask for it. It’s about doing small things with great love.
Emma Falci ('23)
What does Community Action Day mean to you?
CAD is a day of breaking down walls and helping out the community we are a part of. The theme for CAD is "All of 52," and although Xavier is technically Cincinnati, we are still a part of Norwood. They can help us just as much as we can help them, and CAD is just the start of that journey for many who participate.
What is your singular favorite CAD memory?
My favorite memory was going to the Mill Creek Alliance and tearing down the invasive plant honeysuckle. There is something about diving into the woods and saving the woodland around us before it is gone.
What is the most important thing you've learned through this work?
The most important thing I learned is that we are no saviors. By going out to serve, we are helping members of our community, but we are not going to save them. We get to learn from their wisdom and experience and give them a hand to make the community better for everyone.
Trevor Tiemeyer (‘25)
What does Community Action Day mean to you?
It means being involved within the community and learning and growing with other people. In CAD you work with a group that has similar passions as you. The philosophy of CAD is how the community teaches you and you teach the community, and then going to reflect after serving to have a deep dive in what was learned and experienced there.
What is your singular favorite CAD memory?
Waking up early in the morning and arriving to the CFJ to see all of us tired, but excited for the day to start. From there, talking to people and the Bellarmine parish as I hadn't connected to them previously. I love the mornings of CAD when people are arriving, and us playing loud music to wake up everyone on campus to join us.
What is the most important thing you've learned through this work?
The most important thing I have learned is that the community helps us as we help it. The places we are going have been there before us and will be there after us. We are helping but not without them helping us as well. We are not going there to "give back" but to learn and grow with this community and to make it better for everyone involved.
Charlotte Chamberlain ('26)
