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Serving through the Agape Center

Serving through Agape center

Serving through the Agape Center

The Agapé Center for Service and Learning at Messiah University develops, administers resources, and coordinates programs of service-learning, community service, and missions. Students, faculty, and staff work with community-based partners in local, national, and international settings to address community needs, to provide holistic learning opportunities for students, and to encourage students toward an ethic of discipleship, service and civic engagement.

PCG infographics

  • 154 students and 18 employees served on Agape service trips to 16 national and international locations
  • 334 students served with local community partners through Agape Outreach Teams
  • 673 students attended programs on relevant national and international human rights issues
  • 2,010 students and employees served in local Plunge Days of service

Agape Center “Plunge Day” Partnerships:

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service

MLK Day of Service is a nation-wide Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) movement in which colleges and universities are encouraged to engage students in community service in celebration and honor of the work of Dr. King.

Messiah's regional partners for the MLK Day of Service include:

  • Allison Hill Community Ministry
  • Ben Franklin School
  • Bethesda Mission
  • Boys & Girls Club
  • Brethren Housing Association
  • Camp Curtain
  • Catholic Worker House
  • Center for Champions
  • Downey School
  • Friendship Center
  • Habitat for Humanity
  • Harrisburg Brethren in Christ Church
  • Harrisburg Salvation Army
  • Humane Society
  • Martin Luther King Baptist Church
  • Morning Star Pregnancy Services
  • Paxton Ministries
  • Recycle Bicycle Harrisburg
  • Scott School
  • Shining Light
  • Silence of Mary Home
  • St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
  • The Civic Club of Harrisburg
  • The MakeSpace
  • The Neighborhood Center

Annual Messiah University Service Day

Each year Messiah University closes its campus one day in April to host the Special Olympics Area M gamed, leveraging more than 1,100 student and employee volunteers. Additionally, over 400 other students and employees serve at other locations in the greater Harrisburg region.

Regional Partners for Service Day include:

  • American Foundation for Children with AIDS
  • Asper Burial Grounds and the Little
  • Bermudian Brethren Cemetery
  • Brethren Housing Association
  • Camp Hebron
  • Carlisle YMCA New Frontier Camp
  • Caitlin’s Smiles
  • Deer Valley YMCA Family Camp

Learn more about Service Day and our community partners

Quotes from our “Plunge Day” partnerships

“It is humbling-- being exposed to poverty and homelessness, an environment that students in college do not think about often. … Interacting with the homeless on a frigid day with socks and warm soup hand not only gave me a new sense of empathy but helped me find appreciation for my own life.” – Ian Tan, ’19 on Priority One (NY)

“Tutoring at Boys & Girls club has changed my heart… and is an opportunity to tell these kids they are smart, beautiful, worthy and important.” – Alexis Robinson, ’20 at Boys and Girls Club