Community Service

At Morristown Beard School, we believe that community service challenges students, now and later in life, to become self-reflective and aware of the needs of others. The higher purpose envisioned by our Community Service Program is to foster an acute and practical awareness of the dignity of “the other” in each individual.

Each student is required to complete eight hours of community service each semester and to complete reflections about the experience. Students are permitted to perform on campus service for a portion of their requirement and then must fulfill the remainder of their hours working out in the community.

Habitat for Humanity 2023

Helping Near and Far

Each year, students run several on campus drives and fundraisers, such as a community blood drive, a Thanksgiving food drive, and a holiday toy drive, for all to participate. Students work in the local community by volunteering at the Market Street Mission, tutoring children at the Neighborhood House, volunteering at Matheny, working with the Salvation Army bell ringing campaign, and through many more local organizations. The personal interests of students also help forge new partnerships with communities across the globe. Students have sent letters and care packages to soldiers overseas; knit caps and blankets for cancer patients; sent books and supplies to partnered schools in Africa; repaired bikes for the purpose of donation; participated in several walks/runs to raise money and awareness for disease research.

Community Service Trips

Community service trips are taken yearly during breaks, to help expose our community to the needs beyond. Trips in years past have included Habitat for Humanity builds in North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, and Florida. Students have also traveled internationally to sites such as Peru, Costa Rica, and Thailand to provide various service to local villages.

Give and Surf

Give and Surf, a non-profit created by MBS alumni, Neil Christiansen "02, hosts over 200 volunteers from around the world every year to actively engage in education and community development work that supports indigenous communities of Bocas del Toro, Panama.

Morristown Beard School students return to Panama to work with Give and Surf every two years. During the 2018 trip, our students built and painted a new preschool for the local community. Others had the opportunity to work directly with children, helping them learn Spanish and English.

When the students were not hard at work, they immersed themselves in Panamanian culture and community.

"Give and Surf was one the greatest experiences of my life. It transformed the way I viewed life and helped me realize what is really important. The community service was truly meaningful and an amazing way to connect with people in a way I have never done before. Give and Surf is a powerful learning experience that I would recommend to anybody." - Charles Naples '17