The Spring Service Trip: Supporting and Serving the Community

The trip has run for about four years. From April 30 to May 3, around 14 Hopkins students, grades 9-12, will volunteer in New Haven at organizations like Sunrise Cafe, the Yale Community Kitchen, and Havenly. Alissa Davis, Anna Khoury, and Alvaro Cerqueira will supervise the attendees. Davis, an English teacher and director of community service, hopes “students emerge with a really rich understanding of food insecurity in New Haven.”

Students come in with varied levels of service experience. Leila Abate ’27, who also attended last year but had limited background in service prior to the trip, said that it was “a great way to…just get a look into community service at Hopkins.” 

The trip exposes students to food insecurity and community service and offers new experiences. “The trip really shows you the depth of food insecurity, especially in the greater New Haven area…I didn’t know it was that severe,” said Dide Arat ’27, a last year attendee. For many students, food insecurity isn’t a well known or experienced topic. As Molly Calderone ’27, an attendee on last year’s trip, said, “When we talk about food insecurity in assemblies, it’s easy to be disconnected from that and be like, okay, well, I can’t really see what it’s like in person. And then you go on the trip, you start to understand that more…so empathizing more has definitely been a lesson.” 

Students don’t just learn more about food insecurity, they experience combating food insecurity. For Ripley Chance ’26, who went on the 2023 and 2025 trips “Being able to do hands-on work was something that I wasn’t as used to in community service and something that I really, really liked.” The learning and exposure acquired from the trip gives students a different view on community service. Raymond Zhang ’28, who went on the trip last year, said “After going on the trip, I came back with more appreciation for service work, and volunteers who support their communities.” 

This impact often extends beyond the trip itself. Michael Batsu ’28, another last year attendee, is tutoring kids over the summer and explained “I think that the trip helped me prepare for that type of work.” Davis noted that witnessing real needs encourages deeper thinking: “it's not just, oh we’re dipping our toe in…they’re thinking about what could be longer term solutions.” She added “I think as much as we try to do community service, it’s also about community building.” 

For many students, meeting new people is a major draw. Sidney Koo ’29, a first time attendee, said, “I think that the trip might be a great way for me to get to know people in other grades.” Similarly, Arat explained “I was trying to really meet new people, because it was my first year at Hopkins." Chance noted, “It’s really nice to be surrounded by other people that are very service oriented.” She explained, “Even though we came from different ages and different friend groups, we all kind of came together to support this bigger cause.” 

Beyond building a community within attendees, the trip helps students bond with the broader New Haven community. As Calderone said “a pro [of the trip] was being able to talk to so many people and, like, connect with, like, the Connecticut community.” She noted handing out groceries as a favorite experience. “It was really nice to just be able to see all of those people, like, come in and like, get what they need. And yeah, that was just really rewarding,” she said.

The service trip is more accessible and connects students more directly with New Haven than the offered international trips. Davis explained, “Sometimes students might spend 4 years here on the Hill and not actually go into our more surrounding neighborhoods. She stated that “It’s important for Hopkins to be a part of New Haven and the best way of doing that that I can find is getting our kids off campus and in there.” The affordability of the trip, due to its proximity to the school, makes the volunteering opportunity more accessible for all students. 

Ultimately, the getaway educates students on food insecurity and service. Davis noted that community service is often thought of as a burden or a box to check, but added “we really hope the trip feels like an experience that you'll just always have and always remember and be important in your life.” Chance 100% recommends the trip, saying “I think the main thing I would recommend it for is being surrounded by people that are really engaged and into the same things that you are…you share the central value of being able to help others.” As Koo puts it, “I’ll get to meet some new people, learn about food insecurity, and help out my community…I’m pretty excited about it.” The spring service trip is a chance, a chance to learn, a chance to bond, and a chance to become involved in the community.