In Good Hands with Helping Hands
Aligned with Friends Select’s Quaker values of placing learning at the service of society, |
the Helping Hands club is engaging upper school students in meaningful community service opportunities across various sectors. Through these hands-on experiences, students cultivate their individual passions for volunteering, combating social injustices, and developing leadership skills—all while making a positive impact. |
As faculty advisor of the club, upper school math teacher and service coordinator Sarah Kelly recognizes that Helping Hands allows students to explore service opportunities that resonate with a variety of interests and skills. “Service comes in many forms and is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach,” she said. “The ultimate goals are to help students find their voices and passions and pursue them while contributing meaningfully to society.”
This philosophy has led to a wide range of service opportunities for Helping Hands members throughout the school year. Helping Hands oversees the FSS Community Pantry—maintaining its inventory, organizing regular food drives, and ensuring that the pantry is accessible to people in need—and coordinates the annual Philabundance food drive. Last school year, the club assisted with the school’s Red Cross blood drive, creating a planning subcommittee to spearhead the event logistics. Helping Hands members also supported the Student Civic & Community Engagement Summit (SCCE) and managed a voter registration table on the front plaza of the Parkway Building. “The students made the natural connection to civic engagement, recognizing their power and privilege and using them for the betterment of everyone else,” Sarah said.
Friends Select alum Morgan DeNicola ’04 recently partnered with Helping Hands to engage her alma mater in service opportunities through the DeNicola Foundation—her family’s charitable organization focused on global humanitarian efforts. Through this partnership, club members created St. Patrick’s Day cards for nursing homes, assembled Code Blue kits for shelters for people experiencing homelessness, and supported environmental conservation at Elmwood Park Zoo, where Morgan serves as humanitarian program manager on the board of directors. Her connection has been particularly valuable, with construction companies at the zoo even offering internship opportunities to students after witnessing their dedication and work ethic.
Last year, Helping Hands was the recipient of a $1,000 grant award for their proposal for the Philly Service Awards (PSA), a city-wide community service competition open to high school students. For their award-winning project, the club renewed a pre-existing partnership with Philly House—formerly known as Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission—the city’s largest and longest-running shelter for men experiencing homelessness. With their grant award, Helping Hands members made over 200 welcome bags with toiletries for individuals to receive upon their arrival at the shelter. In addition, Helping Hands raised $850 through a bake sale in January and used the funds to purchase clean t-shirts for the shelter, the most-needed item on Philly House’s wish list.
With high interest in the club, Helping Hands is now at capacity with 25 members. However, in her role as service coordinator, Sarah facilitates four service days throughout the school year to enable opportunities for all upper school students to work with organizations such as MANNA, Our Closet, Cradles 2 Crayons, and more. “There are so many opportunities to connect with organizations that need support,” said Maya ’26, a Helping Hands student leader who enjoys working with Friends Childcare Center. “We always have days when we go out into the community and help out. This allows us to participate in some acts of service that might interest people to look outside of Friends Select.”
The presence of Helping Hands as an outlet for positive change continues to grow, and student leaders are motivated to expand their impact beyond the FSS community. “I hope to start working more with outside organizations. I also want to make our presence even greater than it already is in the school,” Maya said. “I think we can really make a change inside and outside of school.”
That commitment is what inspires faculty advisor Sarah. “These students have a drive to make the world better, especially at a time when things can feel kind of shaky. It gives me hope that we are in good hands,” she added. “The rising generation is passionate, caring, and concerned about the future and humanity.”
