Service and Outreach
Serving with Faith, Love, and Compassion
We partner with various organizations to extend a helping hand to underserved communities, embodying our commitment to service and sharing Christ’s love with others. Through these partnerships, we aim to address critical needs, from providing food and clothing to offering educational and spiritual support.
Our Partners
Palo Alto
Opportunity Center
Cook and serve breakfast for Palo Alto's Opportunity Center, where brothers and sisters who are less fortunate go to receive a free meal. We cook breakfast at 7:00 a.m. and finish cleaning up by 8:30 a.m. Some of us drive to the Opportunity Center to serve breakfast from 8:15 a.m. until 9:45 a.m. Occurs twice monthly.
St. Anthony’s Padua Dining Room
Help prepare and serve in-person hot meals at St. Anthony’s Padua Dining Room on the first, fourth and fifth Saturdays of each month, from 8:30 AM to 1 PM (or a portion of that time). Contact Gary Glover (gary.glover@stanford.edu, 650-302-6902) for more information or to have a volunteer position reserved for you.
Common Roots
Farm
Join fellow community members from the Catholic Community at Stanford as we head to Common Roots Farm in Santa Cruz for a morning of volunteering on Saturdays, on a monthly basis. Work may include planting, harvesting, working soil, clearing beds, petting chickens, feeding sheep, or whatever needs to be done on the farm that day. The morning will begin at 9:30am and end around 12:30pm. We provide lunch to those who wish to stay.
The Giving Tree
On behalf of The Giving Tree organization, we host opportunities for our community to donate to children in need, typically a backpack drive every August and a gift drive every December. Contact Larry Hu (hudat@stanfordalumni.com).
Hospital Chaplaincy Ministry
Visit Catholic patients at Stanford Hospital and offer them Communion while acting as a compassionate listener, empathic, well grounded in your faith and open to serving a couple of hours a week. The Spiritual Care Services Volunteer at Stanford program offers several trainings a year. To learn more contact VolunteerResources@stanfordhealthcare.org
ASB (Alternative Spring Break)
Mission Trips
Mission trips are transformative journeys of faith, service, and cultural immersion. These trips are a means of helping students step away from the “Stanford bubble” and into deeper relationship with God and compassion and service to His people. Here are the trips for 2026.
Point Reyes Backpacking Trip - March 20-23
This Alternative Spring Break trip with the Catholic Outdoor Ministry team and Fr. Chrysostom will focus on exploring one of the most beautiful stretches of California coastline at Point Reyes. We were able to secure reservations in this highly sought-after coastal wilderness, offering sweeping ocean views, rugged cliffs, and quiet beaches.
Wildlife is abundant and often easy to spot. We can expect to see tule elk, deer, seals, sea lions, waterfowl, birds of prey, foxes, coyotes, and—if we’re lucky—bobcats. This is also the season for elephant seals, and Spring marks the migration of gray whales, with mothers and calves often traveling closer to shore. Much of our hiking will be directly along the California coast, with stunning vistas throughout the trip.
Trip details: Each day will include a hike of approximately 6–7 miles on well-established trails. Campsites have running water and toilets. Some days will include moderate elevation gain, while others are mostly flat. We will celebrate Mass each evening before dinner, followed by outdoor Adoration. Each morning will begin with chanting the Psalms, and we’ll end the day with Compline (Night Prayer)—often on the beach.
Christ in the City Mission Trip - March 22-28
“Many people talk about the homeless, but few talk to them.” – Mother Teresa
We will arrive on March 22, the Sunday after finals, to Christ in the City, a young adult missionary community striving to share genuine human connection with those living on the streets of Denver, Colorado. After an evening of orientation, we’ll spend five days living out the mission: receiving the love of Christ in prayer and community and then hitting the streets—not to “fix” those we meet, but to build genuine connection with simple acts of friendship, listening ears, and compassionate presence. On Saturday, March 28, we’ll debrief the experience over breakfast and head home in the early afternoon—arriving back in time for the first week of the Spring quarter. This is an amazing opportunity for you to love the poor, make lifelong friendships, and open your heart to how God might be inviting you to serve him.