
Service Learning
Learning by Doing (Corporal Works of Mercy)
At Donnelly, we believe that learning extends beyond the classroom and into the community. As part of our Service Learning initiative, your instructors will incorporate meaningful service that targets real-world needs.
Service Learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience; teaching civic responsibility and strengthening communities.
As part of the Donnelly mission and Strategic Plan, service-learning activities incorporate the corporal works of mercy found in the teachings of Jesus Christ and give students a model of how they should treat all human beings. It is a tradition at Donnelly to host a Day of Service at the beginning of each academic year. During this event, students fulfill our mission by feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick and incarcerated, burying and honoring the dead and giving alms to the poor.
Day of Service
Student Learning Outcome: Students will have the ability to connect academic inquiry to actions that will improve society and serve the community.
TurnStyles Thrift offers bargain prices on unique clothes, affordable housewares and more with the proceeds supporting more than 20 programs run by Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas. Some of their programs include food pantries and meal programs, vaccination clinics, refugee and immigrant resettlement and adoption services. Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas is the main donor of food to Donnelly’s Campus Cupboard. Students sort and price items for the TurnStyles Thrift store in Mission, Kansas.
KCK Housing Authority (Community Gardens) staff assist community and backyard gardeners throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area to improve nutrition, reduce food costs, combat obesity, increase physical activity, encourage neighborhood leadership and promote locally grown and sustainable food. KCCG has grown from a staff of three to 26 and currently supports 670 community garden and orchard sites and 2,548 home gardeners! During Day of Service, students assist staff in the garden.
Hope Distribution Center is a mission of Catholic Charites of Northeast Kansas. It serves as the central location for food distribution to our Family Support Center food pantries and 21 counties served by Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas. The warehouse helps us ensure a balanced inventory for all our pantries, including Donnelly's Campus Cupboard. During Day of Service, students stock the pantry.
Splitlog Farm works with local schools and other partners to provide fresh produce to neighborhood families and create a safe, fun and educational outdoor space and opportunities for kids to grow, learn and play. During Day of Service, students help with fall planting and garden prep.
Donnelly College has been an oasis of quality, Catholic higher education in the heart of Kansas City, Kansas for more than 75 years. In keeping with Donnelly's value of community, students pick up trash around Donnelly’s grounds and parking garage, Bishop Ward’s campus and the Sister Servants of Mary grounds.
Gray Horse Equine Assisted Therapy works with individuals, families, groups, corporations and other professionals to improve quality of life and to uncover and resolve counterproductive patterns. Students assist with cleaning and painting around the facility.
Service Learning courses offered:
- AS 101 First Year Experience
- SF 099 Success First Accelerated Reading & Writing
- EN 204 Environmental Ethics
- SC 204 Environmental Ethics
- SC 105 Environmental Science
- EN 203 Topics in Literature
Service Learning Graduation Cord: Students can achieve a Service Learning graduation cord if they complete and pass four Service Learning (SL) designation courses.
For Faculty:

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Assistant Professor | Biology
Educational Background: BS, Cardinal Newman College, 1983 MA, University ...
Director of Humanities | Associate Professor
Educational Background: BS, University of Kansas, 1990 MS, Kansas State Univers...
Director of Liberal Arts & Sciences | Assistant Professor