The Carnival

A common way that students get their service hours is through the Carnival. The St. Mary’s Carnival happens every year, and is popular among the entire city of Bismarck. Lisa Koch, the marketing manager for Light of Christ and one of the lovely people who makes the SMCHS Carnival happen, described the enormity of this task, saying, “It takes nearly 1,000 volunteers for the 3-day Carnival weekend. We are so grateful for the assistance of our students, parents, employees, teachers, parish members, and all of our community members who volunteer their time and talents to make each year a success—for 72 years now! We simply can’t have a Carnival without the entire team of volunteers, each year.” The Carnival itself fits in quite well with our school’s service values: “The Carnival began as a way to support building the SMCHS campus, so the Carnival—from the very beginning—has always been supporting the mission of our schools. 72 years later, it continues and now supports the mission of all 5 of our schools: Encountering Christ in our Catholic faith through living, learning, and serving!”

Opportunities

Abby Bohl, a student at SMCHS, interviewed by Kayla Hilzendeger, has volunteered in many places, such as the Buddy Walk, BEECEP, Ministry on the Margins, and her parish as a Eucharistic Minister. When asked what the most rewarding part of volunteering is, she said it is to help push herself to help those in need. “I think it is important to volunteer in the community to open your eyes and help appreciate what you have and to use what you have been given to help others who might not be as fortunate.” Abby recommends considering how your gifts and talents can help those in the community. She chooses volunteer opportunities like the kiddie carnival at the SM Carnival because she likes to interact with children. “This makes volunteering a lot more enjoyable and rewarding because you are using what you have been given to help others.”

Lastly, part of our service hour requirement at St. Mary’s is having one parish hour. While it may seem insignificant, churches also often run solely on volunteers and donations. By and large, every person who ushers, lectors, distributes communion, or cantors during mass is a volunteer. It is very easy to serve at your parish; it takes less than an hour to be trained to do any of the tasks at church. Simply call your parish and ask when you can be trained as an usher, Eucharistic Minister, lector, etc. Many churches are in need of more people to do these tasks, and would greatly appreciate more volunteers. Since everyone attends Sunday Mass anyway, you might as well be involved! This not only helps the parish, but also an individual’s feeling of belonging to the church community and their spiritual relationship with God. Connections are what make us human, and by starting works of service now, a life-long habit of helping others and showing the light of Christ can be created.