Seton Hill University and students in the Corporate Ethics and Social Responsibility course provided meals to homeless members of the Pittsburgh community through a feeding program sponsored by Maranatha Outreach, a small, ecumenical nonprofit.

The students, led by Seton Hill Assistant Professor of Communication Jen Jones, traveled to the corner of The Boulevard of the Allies and Stanwix Street in Pittsburgh on September 30 to provide the meal and learn more about Maranatha Outreach and the impact the organization has on people’s lives. 

The Corporate Ethics and Social Responsibility course at Seton Hill University, which is taught every other fall semester by Jen Jones, provides students with hands-on experience in understanding how grass-roots, nonprofit organizations function. 

 In the Fall of 2013, students in the course first volunteered to serve meals to members of the Pittsburgh homeless community through Maranatha Outreach, a nonprofit that prepares hot dinners and distributes them every Friday night at the corner of The Boulevard of the Allies and Stanwix Street in downtown Pittsburgh.

On September 30, students in the class once again volunteered for Maranatha Outreach. This time, in addition to the volunteer manpower at the meal site, Seton Hill University provided all of the meals, reducing Maranatha Outreach’s financial burden to provide a fifth meal in the month of September. The idea for the University to provide the meal came from Sister Maureen O’Brien, Director of the Office of Campus Ministry at Seton Hill. 

The meal was prepared by Aramark, Seton Hill’s food service provider, and taken to Pittsburgh, where the 20 students in Jones’ class distributed the food as well as dined with and talked to the approximately 150 to 200 people who attended.

The service learning opportunity provides students with the opportunity to see how a nonprofit operates from the ground up and to better understand the needs of the people served by Maranatha Outreach.