On the first day of Advent, December 1, Wave-4-Life Covenant House in Newark to decorate and clean the homes of the residents. Covenant house’s mission is to help young adults by providing a home and practical education, which includes balancing a budget and learning how to live on one’s own. As a result, Covenant House provides the attendants with fifty dollars a week to cover all their expenses. To put this into perspective: I spent eight dollars on breakfast that morning. To decorate the apartments, the Delbarton Faculty generously donated Christmas ornaments, wreaths, and lights. In addition, Wave-4-life had previously hand-made ornaments and gingerbread houses for this special occasion. Armed with the decorations, five teams with two boys each rushed to decorate their apartments. Each team competed to illuminate their residents’ apartment with the multitude of supplies we had brought along. Though most of the residents left for work despite the weekend, the resident of Colin Saik’s and my apartment stayed home. The resident seemed humbled and grateful. He typified the residents at covenant house: grateful for the help, poor due to unfortunate circumstances and eager to pursue their dream. The residents expressed their gratitude not only for the decorations but for the Oreos and other Christmas treats.

As the Christmas season draws closer, the Delbarton Community hopes to instill a sense of joy in our unique service trips. The trip to Covenant House exemplifies that sense of Christmas Joy, for example. Throughout the competition, each member added to the infectious Christmas spirit. In the end, the decorations are just decorations, but the graciousness of the Delbarton faculty and the cheer of the Delbarton students made them memorable. As the day concluded, one of the students, covered in sparkles from the decorations remarked: “Well that was fun.” And I couldn’t agree more. The simple quote captured the day. Despite spending the Saturday completing menial tasks, the end result was meaningful, something which made the entire day worthwhile. Between the service and smiles, the Wave-4-life completed groups mission: to respect life uphold human dignity.