updated march 27, 2023

The Parents and Guardians Association is excited to announce a new program of community service and volunteerism throughout the month of March and early April. This program was created from parent/guardian feedback on relevant programming, and inspired by two transformative individuals who fostered within the Lakeside community a deeper understanding of the power and joy of service:

• Zinda Foster, former Upper School Service Learning program head
• Bernie Noe, former Lakeside Head of School

Learn more about the legacies of Zinda and Bernie, as they are an important part of Lakeside's history of purpose and progress.

Our inaugural year of community service was a great success! We helped 14 non-profits with over 140 volunteers. Thank you to the parents and guardians who organized and hosted a service project: 6th-grade class reps (Mary’s Place), Mukthi Khan (Eastside Heritage Center’s Living History Project), Katie Ohtake (Community Lunch), parents/guardians affinity group of mixed students (Racial Restrictive Covenants Project), PGA and Aly Counsell-Torres (AIDNW, Depot clean-up), Katie Simmons (Assistance League, Educational Service District - Pasco), Adriana Stamenova (Friends of Issaquah Salmon Hatchery), Chang Su (Neighborhood House), Angela Ting (Ronald McDonald House), T.J. Vassar diversity and community group (Recovery Cafe), Deb Wepman (Mary’s Place - baby bags), Larisa Whipple (Union Gospel Mission, Little Sisters Education Fund), Anna White (Jubilee Women’s Center), and Saron Zwede (Broadview-Thomson K-8 Seattle public school). 

How will you serve your community? There are many ways to help organize a work party:

Plug-and-play: Do you already volunteer at a non-profit organization and can organize a work party or invite others to join you at an established volunteer event?

Explore: Contact a non-profit and organize a volunteer work party. Click here for ideas. For US families, see the list of organizations on the right side bar that qualify for US service learning credit.

Keep it simple:

• Organize a targeted donation drive (e.g. clothing, canned foods) at your home or meet at a convenient parking lot. Add in a casual social gathering so as families drop off, they have time to connect. Have a few families deliver the items to the non-profit.
• Find a non-profit that needs personal hygiene kits, meals, letters or cards. Organize a small work party to build the kits, meals, or write notes, and then have a few families deliver the items to the non-profit.
• Choose your favorite park or beach and do a clean-up walk. The more, the merrier!
• Invite a few others to join you to donate blood.