Sko Buffs, sko serve! When CU Boulder students showed up at Samaritan House Denver, sandwiches were on the menu—but so were service, connection and a new perspective.
The students were part of Sko Serve, CU Boulder’s service program connecting students with opportunities to serve local communities while learning more about the issues impacting the people they serve. Their experience at Samaritan House offered a chance to do just that: roll up their sleeves, meet a practical need and gain a deeper understanding of homelessness in Denver.
The day began with an opportunity to see Samaritan House from a perspective that went beyond the volunteer tasks. Through the tour, students gained a deeper understanding of how Samaritan House serves people experiencing homelessness in Denver and the many ways the organization works to meet immediate needs while helping individuals move toward stability.
That experience was an important part of why the group chose to serve at Samaritan House.
Their leader shared that the students specifically appreciate opportunities to serve at places like Samaritan House because the experience allows them to gain a better understanding of the people and needs within the community. Rather than simply completing a volunteer project, students are able to step into a setting where they can learn, ask questions, and gain firsthand experience serving people who are experiencing hardship.
After the tour, the students got to work preparing sandwiches and assembling sack lunches. What may seem like a small act of service becomes meaningful when multiplied across a community. Each lunch prepared represents a practical way of caring for someone who may be facing one of life’s most basic challenges: having enough food for the day.
For the students, however, the experience offered something more than a few hours of service.
It gave them an opportunity to connect what they have learned about service and social issues with the realities they could see firsthand in Denver. Sko Serve intentionally combines direct service with learning and reflection, encouraging students to consider not only what they did, but why the work matters.
At Samaritan House, that learning happens in a place where the needs of the community are visible every day.
The students arrived ready to help, but they left with a broader understanding of the people behind the issues they were learning about. Their time preparing sandwiches and sack lunches was one small part of the larger work happening at Samaritan House—but it was also a tangible way for each student to contribute.
Service can begin with something as simple as making a sandwich.
But when students are given the opportunity to understand the people they are serving, see the work happening around them, and participate with purpose, those sandwiches become part of something much bigger: learning to see a community’s needs and choosing to respond.
Samaritan House is grateful for the CU Boulder students who spent their time serving alongside us. Their willingness to give their time, learn about homelessness in Denver, and meet a practical need is a meaningful example of how community partnerships can create opportunities not only to serve, but to learn and grow through service.