All news and stories

Written by Pierre Jacquemart from Serve the City Luxembourg What happens when young people from across Europe come together with a shared determination to shape a better future? The first Serve The City Youth Forum took place in Brussels from October 9–11, 2026. In addition to exchanging ideas, young volunteers from all over Europe came [...]

A few hours. Four volunteers. One yard transformed! This Friday Focus shines a spotlight on Serve the City Peninsula and a day of teamwork that made a difference for Mr. Sprowl. On Friday September 23rd, four volunteers rolled up their sleeves, tackled the overgrown yard, cleaned up the property, and gave it some much needed [...]

A message from Carlton Executive Director of Serve The City International Help us double our impact ! Dear friends, supporters, and alumni, Every year, more than 60,000 volunteers in over 60 cities around the world show kindness in practical and personal ways to people in need and help make their neighbourhoods cleaner, greener and more [...]

On Saturday, September 26th, Serve the City Cologne played host to a special gathering. Thirty-five UPS employees arrived with their families, ready to roll up their sleeves and get their hands in the soil. By the end of the day, together they had potted 1,500 young trees, each one carefully prepared for the next chapter [...]

This week, we are focusing on Serve the City Philippines. Founded in 2023, and lead by Celso Manangan, Celso and his team have recently reached a milestone in volunteer engagement by creating a partnership with José Rizal University. Together both José Rizal University students and Serve the City Philippines have high aims for the next [...]

A Message from Carlton Deal, CEO, Serve the City International. On behalf of Serve the City International, I want to express our heartfelt sympathy to the people of Nepal and Tibet following the devastating landslides and flash floods that have affected so many families and communities. Our thoughts are with all those who have lost [...]

by Daniella Mobunga Mbikayi Every organization has values, but for Serve the City International, they’re more than just words—they shape everything they do. Compassion. Respect. Courage. Love. Hope. And right at the center: humility. Humility might not be flashy. It doesn’t make headlines or draw attention to itself. But for Serve the City, it’s the […]

By Mary McColley It was the season of monsoon and mangoes. May 17th: Serve the City Global Volunteer Day, and the launch of the Serve the City branch of the thronging, hawking, roaring, impossible metropolis of Bangkok. This goliath of a city counts some 11 million residents to its name, but on that day, we […]

Peter DeWit had the honour of meeting up at the Cassette Café with Nathanael Koehler who began an incredible football project in Paris with homeless refugees. Each week under the tutelage of coach Nate close to 25 refugees come together to practice, train and play. Recently they have started playing weekly as well in a […]

by Peter DeWit I had the recent privilege of visiting the beautiful city of Maastricht and the Serve the City team there. When I arrived it was your typical dutch-January-weather, cold, wet and windy. Thankfully I was greeted warmly at the train station by our Director Ingeborg Dijkstra, who has been leading STCM for the […]

by Peter DeWit   No one is ‘just a volunteer.’ People who step up to volunteer are a gift to the world. We are a dedicated group of people committed to causes that speak to our hearts. We are eager to make a difference. It doesn’t take much to keep us going, but sincere recognition goes […]

By Austin Silva Mota Despair is the easiest thing to feel when we look at the world around us: war, famine, wild weather, violations of every kind of freedom. As we serve in our own cities—even the most peaceful of them—there are scaled-down versions of those same problems. We see aggression, people hungry for food […]

by Jay Benfante When you think of what it means to be courageous certain stories may come to your mind: Stories of great warriors in battle or superhuman heroes fighting against the odds to save the world. You may even think of someone whom you know that overcame a great challenge, maybe an academic effort, […]

Written by Peter DeWit What on earth were we doing here? Have you heard of this place? I tried getting my bearings as I walked the wet potholed streets on an iron-gray evening to find our meeting point. I heard roosters crow and stray dogs bark. I picked up a big stone just in case […]

by Peter DeWit Peter DeWit talks with Rene Mally, who sits on the Board of directors for Serve the City International and is passionate about a topic that affects us all, the environment. We all agree that a healthy environment is essential not only for our survival, but for our flourishing. Hopefully we as an […]

“It takes courage just to live life in a failed state where gangs rule the territory and bodies lie in the streets. It takes even more courage to think of anyone other than yourself in such chaos.” Join us as we support Serve the City Haiti in raising donations to continue and grow their community work […]

by Peter DeWit Does it ever feel like you have compassion-deficit days or weeks? Hey, don’t beat yourself up about it, you are not alone. It’s all too easy to feel our not ‘enoughness’ in the light of the challenges and needs of our world. But for the sake of conversation here, may I ask […]

Written by Fianne van Laar In In the Spotlight we shine a light on a member of our global community. We discover who they are, what their role is and their connection with Serve the City. Today, we’re proud to introduce Corlea Human! Corlea is the chairperson of Serve the City International since mid 2023, […]

by Patricia and Peter DeWit I stopped waiting for words to make sense and made it my job to make sense of his words.  “I walk 15 days.”  Eye contact.  Be quiet. He is telling a small part of his story. “Five days no eat, no drink.” I touch his shoulder.  I’m 61 and this […]

by Peter DeWit Peter: Hi Safi, thanks for letting me interview you on STCP’s Language Exchange. If I remember correctly, your first experience with STC was attending one of our classes at the old CEP building. I remember during Covid times, we actually did Language Exchanges while taking walks outside because it was forbidden to […]

Join in on 8th February 2024 at 19.30 CET for a very special first workshop in a series on Navigating Trauma & Building Resilience. It will be valuable for everyone because we all face tough situations in life and, while we’re serving, we can sometimes be confronted with other people’s suffering. Michael Ketterer once partook […]

by Peter DeWit Maybe the word we need more than any other right now is the word hope. It is good to remind ourselves at the beginning of this year that hope is indeed a strategy. Of course, I am not referring to the wishful thinking category. You know, “I wish my life was better.” […]

Written by Maxwell Taylor My first time traveling to Krakow Poland will always have a special place in my heart. While attending Serve the City’s annual international forum, I met a ‘boat load’ of new STC volunteers from all over Europe, with different experiences from their respective cities, participated in team-building activities, and helped volunteer […]

An Interview with Nyati Annette Queenie, CEO, LivingPlus Haven Uganda, STC Volunteer 1. Could you tell us about your research in Mental Health? I titled it “Substance-related hospitalisation burden and patterns: Mental Unit, Arua Regional Referral Hospital, North Western Uganda.” Globally, substance abuse is a growing cause of mental illness and a leading cause of […]

by Greet de Rechter, NOAH coordinator at STC Maastricht Maastricht is a beautiful city in the south of the Netherlands. The people are doing well, as it seems. However, behind the front door, in secret, people are lonely and longing for meetings, friendship and to be seen. Research shows that 53% of adults in Maastricht […]

by Ronan Coffey In 2022 Serve the City Lisbon, Serve the City Paris and Serve the City Dublin all agreed to participate in an EU Funded Erasmus project with the intention to increase the level of civic participation of youth in their communities. This Tri City project was called ‘The Academy of Change’ and the aim […]

By Vivian Ambasa Alubai On May 20th, 2023, STCP organized a fundraising event to support orphanages in Kenya. On August 22nd, I traveled to Kenya to purchase essential items for the children using the funds raised. Two days later, on August 24th, 2023, I had scheduled visits to two orphanages in Nairobi. My first stop […]

by Safiullah Ebrahim  Volunteering is well-known and worthy in France. Based on statistics, one out of every four French citizens volunteers at some point in time. There are many reasons that cause someone to volunteer; one may feel useful, acquire skills, develop oneself, and fulfill his/her civic duty.  After a quick search, it is easy […]

by Hazel Lincy Ebenezer and Matilde Newman . We are so excited to celebrate Serve the City Gold Coast’s first event, which took place on Saturday, 26th of August. For this successful first event, 10 volunteers came together to take part in a gardening project and cleanup. We reached out to Matilde Newman, the director […]

by Peter DeWit We were almost at the makeshift refugee camp when a homeless man asked us for some coffee and food. We were happy to oblige him, but when he saw the new shoes in my bag, he got a little greedy. “Please, can I have those shoes too,” he asked? I got short […]

From the 10th to the 16th of July 2023, STC International had its first-ever Mental Health Awareness Week. Moving forward and learning from the success of this week, we are excited to share more events and happenings that will take place on the topic of mental health. For now, from those of you who attended […]

In June, our Serve the City community saw two Big Volunteer Weeks taking place – one in Romania and the other in Bosnia and Herzegovina. To know a little more about these events, we went straight to the source. Keep reading to hear what the organisers and volunteers had to say about their Big Volunteer […]

Serve the City is hosting its first-ever Mental Health Awareness Week from July 10th to July 16th, 2023. With an aim to break the silences around mental health and to create awareness on the connections between mental health and volunteering, this week includes daily challenges, check-in calls, stories and so much more! We want to […]

Serve the City International partnered with UPS Foundation Europe to reinforce our volunteer impact and make a difference to the lives of those we care for in our cities! 130 UPS staff members gave almost 300 hours of their time for UPS Volunteering Month 2023, supporting refugee children, the homeless, migrants, asylum seekers, the elderly, […]

by Carlton Deal In the late 90s, I was a youth leader in Geneva, Switzerland, and I brought a team of international school students to serve in an orphanage in Lugoj, Romania. It was a very formative experience for all of us. One of my co-leaders was a good friend named David, who had moved […]

On Tuesday, 16 May, Brigitte Vonck-Makkinje – the founder and city leader of Serve the City Amsterdam – was awarded an honour by the King of the Netherlands for her leadership and service to the city of Amsterdam! This special occasion also celebrated the 15-year anniversary of STC Amsterdam. The event was attended by the STC Amsterdam staff, board, and friends – […]

This year, Global Volunteer Day was celebrated in over 18 cities across 5 continents. From STC Peninsula to STC Accra, from Geneva to the Philippines, from Limerick to Oeiras and so many more – we have stories that we can’t wait to share with you. Some of the projects included picnics with the elderly, construction […]

From the 4th to the 7th of May, twenty City Leaders and Core Team members from across the Caribbean and members of Serve the City International met in the Dominican Republic for STC’s first-ever regional forum. With representatives from Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, this successful forum resulted in the STC Caribbean team committing to four key […]

by Leontine Mastenbroek This morning a crew from UPS Ireland came to serve a man whose house had become unlivable. The team of 5 women and a man came to make a start with clearing the rubbish that must have accumulated over many years. We talked briefly about the six STC values over coffee before […]

STC Kosovo’s April 2023 Big Volunteer Weekend was a huge success! Over 40 volunteers from 5 countries gathered together, including both Kosovar Serbs and Albanians, volunteering alongside each other to show kindness and to care for their urban environment. This year’s Big Volunteer Weekend focused on the city of Mitrovica, an ethnically-diverse municipality which includes […]

Good news! Serve the City International’s partnership with the UPS Foundation is bearing fruit this month as UPS staff members give up their time to work on projects in their city with STC as part of their corporate volunteering month. Between April and mid-May, STC is organising volunteering activities in 10 UPS cities in Europe, […]

by Jay Benfante What would it look like if the feast of a king was prepared for the homeless and the refugee? What if those, who many in our societies see as a problem to be dealt with were treated as esteemed guests, being offered not only the dignity they deserve but honor and respect? […]

by Jay Benfante, Southeast Europe Network Coordinator and Serve the City Kosovo City Leader   In the life of a Serve the City volunteer community, things can feel, and in many ways should feel very localized and centralized within the city where you live. You have probably heard of other active communities in other cities […]

We recently had a conversation with Richard Holt of STC London, who is also the Network Coordinator for South Asia, about his trip to Colombo, Sri Lanka. Below is a glimpse of our conversation about this impactful trip – 1. We heard that you recently went on a trip to Sri Lanka! Could you tell […]

by Janine L. Phillips, a volunteer at Serve the City Paris Visit her blog here: www.missmeaningful.com.au - Paris. February 2020 My source of news was through social media and Australian news sites. Reports of COVID-19 began to dominate the feed. However, it still felt like it was ‘out there’, not an issue that affected me. [...]

by Peter DeWit He was sleeping on hard hewn out logs meant to be a bench, not a bed. It was midmorning in the busy Republic Square where protesters and skateboarders like to gather. I usually will ask a sleeping figure softly and only once, “A coffee, a tea, something to eat sir?” He woke […]

Global Volunteer Day 2022 was celebrated on 14 May across cities, countries, and continents with a variety of projects. To learn more about the special experiences from this day, we caught up with Peter from Nairobi, Michelle from South Jersey, and Peter from Paris. We heard about a visit to a rescue centre in Nairobi, […]

We’ve seen stories of hope and of horror as the Ukraine/Russia conflict continues. This is why you’re invited to join a special online Family session where we will share updates on how STC cities are responding and make space to discuss how we care for people, both those in need and our volunteers. When: Monday […]

During this time, it is important that we keep ourselves well informed about the events occurring within Ukraine. This requires a dual responsibility of seeking true information and staying away from misinformation. Two sources that we recommend to help you stay informed are: 1. The BBC has been conducting live reporting on the situation, which […]

With the importance that we place in sharing the stories of others, we would be remiss if we did not do the same during this period. If you would like to share your story or experience over the past week, please do reach out to us at hello@servethecity.net Ukraine:  Our contacts in Ukraine include a family […]

Dear friends, We are all in shock, and we are afraid. We are united in our concern as lives are threatened, and new pages of history are being written before our eyes. We feel compelled to act, and to provide meaningful opportunities for others to engage. We are a values-in-action volunteering community, in cities all […]

by Peter DeWit What would you say is the best way to change perspectives and paradigms? May I suggest to you that it is through storytelling? As we tell our stories something happens inside of the listener:  understanding, solidarity and sometimes a desire to change. I’ve been told that I am a storyteller. I love […]

by Sara Tchaparian Good news! The EU-funded “EYES” project is to be launched by STC this spring, promising to reinforce our mission to underpin neighbourhood and community support to help those in need. The project acronym ‘EYES’ stands for ‘Empowering Youth through Entrepreneurial Skills’, targeting young people who are not in education, employment or training […]

The Help-Files: The Truth Is Here  Vol03: Iss01 – Looking Ahead to 2022 2021 is now in the rear-view mirror and our sights are now looking to 2022 and what it has to offer.  For Serve the City’s Digital Infrastructure that means updates, upgrades and new resources, some visible and some not.  And at least […]

The Help-Files: The Truth Is Here  Vol02: Iss07 – Remember These Resources?  During one of the workshops at the recent Serve the City International Forum it became apparent that everyone knows about all the resources that are available for cities, city leaders, and their core teams.  You can find details on resources like the STC website template and The Tower in […]

On the 29th of October, Kim and Andy Baligian of Serve the City Detroit were in for a big surprise! During what they thought was an introductory call with representatives from the National Football League (NFL) to talk about Serve the City Detroit, they were shocked to find that they had been selected by the […]

STC Peninsula’s 5th Big Volunteer Week, themed Kindness breeding Kindness, took place from July 13 through July 17. Dave Hahne of STC Peninsula shares some inspiring stories, numbers and quotes from this memorable week:   Kindness Breeding Kindness I have a story I would like to share for our Big Volunteer Week: We had debris to […]

On the 26th of June, Serve the City Amsterdam had its Big Volunteer Day.   This event included painting, gardening, haircuts, making pancakes for the homeless, and much more. The volunteers also distributed 3000 brownies to elderly homes in Amsterdam!   We reached out to Serve the City Amsterdam, to find out more about this […]

by Peter DeWit (Peter is the volunteer programs and events director of Serve the City Paris. As a unique and dynamic community, Serve the City International is excited to share the independent experiences and viewpoints of various people throughout our movement, like Peter. We hope you enjoy this article!)  Our world needs miracles, big ones! […]

Partager By Mary McColley We were walking familiar paths. It was a Saturday distribution walk like so many before, and my group was headed towards the gare de Lyon, the high clock tower and—more importantly—the people, huddled against buildings, in doorways and tents, on the surrounding streets. The volunteers’ voices were raised in a tangle […]

by Mary McColley, Serve the City Paris The sky wears a grey mantle of clouds and the sidewalk is tracked with the black aftermath of rain as I walk towards la Caféothèque, rue de l’Hôtel de ville. Even through my mask, I can smell the deep, heady scent of coffee beans emanating from the door […]

Written by Peter DeWit of Serve the City Paris One of the best parts of leading a Serve the City initiative is seeing volunteers enthusiastically join in. It’s been almost three years that I have been part of the Serve the City network, with its many branches around the world. In Paris, it’s always a […]

Across the world, Serve the City celebrated World Refugee Day on the 20th of June through various projects, collaborations, and posts. Serve the City Paris joined the diverse projects on this day through a creative contest for refugees residing in Paris. We interviewed Maya AlSousli, a member of Serve the City Paris, to hear more […]

For the year 2020, Serve the City chose as their theme, “Kindness Starts with Me.” Little did they know how the events of this year would draw of the creativity on volunteers in showing kindness! In this episode, we hear stories from around the world (Geneva, Newport News, Nairobi, Accra, Paris, Luxembourg and South Jersey) about how they have seen a viral spread of kindness as a pandemic was being contained.

It’s been a more than a good idea to stay inside during the COVID outbreak in Brussels— it’s the law. But some residents have found that there are some important humanitarian reasons to venture out in the streets, motivated by compassion that fuels their courage.

On Saturday May 9th, Serve the City had its third annual Global Volunteer Day. Serve the City is a global movement of volunteers showing kindness in personal ways to people in need. Every year, Serve the City sets aside the second Saturday of May to celebrate volunteerism, and the challenges of this season made it […]

As we revisit the first four cities in Season 1 — Lisbon, Chesapeake, Berlin and Tallinn — we find out that agility is everything. In each city, we discover how the expertise, partnerships, and concerns developed in everyday volunteering are being adapted to show kindness in this crisis—and the touching stories that result.

Serve the City Dublin team members tell stories of volunteers welcoming and comforting people at a COVID testing site, and delivering groceries and prescriptions to vulnerable people isolated in their homes. Kindness has not been cancelled in Ireland!

STCi Social Media Challenge #KindnessStartsWithMe let it #GoThrival! Hello Serve the City the globe over, Challenge the world in with our social media challenge! In these days of isolation and downer news, let’s focus on spreading kindness and challenging the world to #SpreadKindness through a social media challenge, and instead of making it “viral” we […]

In this episode (part 2 of 2), a simple project serving breakfast to migrants in a park turns into a city-wide humanitarian effort. And in the process, it changes not only the lives of migrants living precariously, but also the lives of the volunteers who sign up to serve them.

Kindness will not be cancelled! Events are cancelled, meetings are cancelled, but Serve the City believes that kindness is open for business and the shelves are stocked floor to ceiling with creative ideas! In this podcast, Carlton and Ani Deal discuss creative kindness.

26 Ways to spread Kindness All over the world meetings are cancelled. Events are cancelled. Trips are cancelled. But a virus, even a pandemic, cannot cancel the most important stuff of life. Kindness is open for business and the shelves are stocked floor to ceiling in abundant supply. Kindness will not be cancelled. Here are […]

Folding@home is a distributed computing project focused on disease research. The problems they are solving require so many computer calcul­ations – and they need our help to find the cures!

STCi Project Ideas Series Kindness will not be cancelled With the on-going COVID-19 world-wide crisis we are starting a new series of helpful projects. During this time these will be projects that can be done individually, and of course once life begins to return to normal we’ll share ideas for groups to serve their cities […]

We at Serve the City are so happy to have many hard-working volunteers from various walks of life with quite a few amazing stories! As we face a period when serving and volunteering is starting to look different, let’s take some time out to appreciate the voices of our volunteers. This month, we are sharing the stories […]

In this episode (part one of two), we travel to Brussels, Belgium to see how a simple, early-morning project—serving breakfast to irregular migrants and asylum seekers—draws on compassion to cut across the lines at the heart of one of the most challenging issues facing the European Union. It turns out that a cup of coffee is more than a cup of coffee when love is added to it.

In this episode, we travel to Tallinn, Estonia to meet secret agents of a serving revolution: the Serve the City Tallinn Blackshirts. No, they are not members of a fascist paramilitary group, but young people stepping up to lead others to serve people in need with humility, compassion, and courage. Along the way, they discover something unexpected: the serving revolution is also changing them.

This month Serving Stories travels to Berlin, Germany. Berlin is known for being the techno capital of the world, the site of a dance revolution. But in a gym located in the Berlin suburbs, dancers are moving to another kind of rhythm, and supporting another kind of revolution—a serving revolution. This is the annual Serve the City Berlin Zumba party, fundraising and recruiting volunteers for their serving activities in the city. Listen to today’s episode to find out how dancing and serving can go hand-in-hand.

This month Serving Stories travels to Berlin, Germany. Berlin is known for being the techno capital of the world, the site of a dance revolution. But in a gym located in the Berlin suburbs, dancers are moving to another kind of rhythm, and supporting another kind of revolution—a serving revolution. This is the annual Serve the City Berlin Zumba party, fundraising and recruiting volunteers for their serving activities in the city. Listen to today’s episode to find out how dancing and serving can go hand-in-hand.

If you drive around Chesapeake, a suburban city on the eastern coast of Virginia (USA), you will find yourself constantly crossing bridges. But bridges of a different kind are being built in several neighbourhoods that used to be known for high crime and urban blight. Thanks to a unique Serve the City partnership between Chesapeake police and faith-based organisations, bridges of trust are being built between people who formerly would have feared one another.

After the 2019 International Forum, we reached out to a few Forum participants to hear about their experience and takeaways. Below are their stories –   Christine Thumm What’s your name and how are you involved with Serve the City? I am Christine and the leader and founder of Serve the City Berlin How many […]

This month we embark for Lisbon, Portugal, where we will hear from the people behind their remarkable Community Dinners…

Between the end of June and the end of July, five different cities across the world held their Big Volunteer Week. While upholding the spirit of this Serve the City flagship event, each city injected their own personality, culture and style into their weeks. In June, Big Volunteer Week started off in Chesapeake, followed by […]

On May 4th 2019, Serve the City had its second Global Volunteer Day. Fifteen Serve the City locations across the world led projects and volunteered to celebrate this event. From games of BINGO to free health screenings, from sporting events to window cleaning, this day had it all! We caught up with a few of […]

On Monday May the 27th we had our second MasterClass of MasterClass May about the Refugee Camp Moria in Lesbos, Greece. Nicole Caroll – who is our Social Concern Champion on this topic – shared her experiences and knowledge from helping refugees that have been arriving on the Greek islands for the last four years. She spoke […]

On Monday, 13 May we had the first MasterClass of this month on the topic of Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking. Ali Ussery and Kevin Hyland shared their expertise with us from their perspectives as North Wales Anti-Slavery Network Coordinator (Ali) and Anti-Slavery Commisioner for the UK and the UN (Kevin). Kevin spoke enthusiastically about how well-positioned Serve […]

On March 21-23, representatives from 6 cities in the US gathered for the 5th Serve the City US Forum in Newport News, VA. The theme of the forum was how to plan an event, focusing on planning for the Global Volunteer Day in May. The forum started with time together over a meal, and then […]

David Anderson from Serve the City Brussels and Jon Hildebrand from Serve the City Chesapeake recently visited Prishtina, Kosovo and Tirana, Albania. The purpose of the trip was to continue to strengthen the STC network in South East Europe and build bridges between different groups of people through serving. David and Jon had previously participated in the first STC […]

Serve the City International Promoting the Value of Volunteering in EU-funded “EYES” Project Written by: Sara Tchaparian Serve the City International is taking part in the EU-funded project, “Empowering Youth through Entrepreneurial Skills” (EYES), which aims to accompany inactive youth in North-Western Europe onto the labour market. The European Union has contributed 2.56 million euros […]

Following recent instances of violent political unrest in Haiti, we wanted to update the Serve the City community on the work of the STC team in Port au Prince. Here’s a conversation with the Founder and Director of Serve the City Haiti, Marc Koquillon, about his journey and vision of serving in his country: What made you […]

Serve the City teams around the world love to initiate simple projects to show kindness in personal ways. But in our aim to be transformational, not transactional, there’s always more going on than initially meets the eye. We contacted Travis Mielonen from Serve the City Poland to share the details of one such project in Kraków. […]

The Caribbean country of Haiti has recently been embroiled in anti-government protests that have blocked roads, prevented aid and left the entire nation in shock. Following is a firsthand account from Marc Koquillon, the founder and director of Serve the City Haiti: “The country is currently facing a political, economic and social crisis.  The country […]

On 28th January 2019, Serve the City International had its first All City Call of 2019. This call, attended by cities across Europe and the United States, discussed humility and looked back at the reason why we serve. We started with a discussion of leading with why and asking ourselves why we do what we […]

In 2018, Serve the City Brussels was engaged in a variety of events, projects and team buildings. The goal of each of these serving opportunities was to put our values into action.  This resulted in many memorable moments filled with humility, compassion, respect, courage, love and hope. We asked members what their favourite moment of […]

On 19 May Serve the City Leuven gathered their sponsors, partners, and volunteers to celebrate their 10th anniversary of serving their city.  Congratulations to all!

On 5 May 19 cities from around the world participated in our first annual Global Volunteer Day.  Participants were cities in Ghana, USA, Germany, Belgium, Ireland, Switzerland, Nepal, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Haiti, and Honduras.  We are still collecting details and videos of the events, but here are a few examples of some of the activities of the […]

Serve the City’s International Leadership Team gathered for their annual meetings in early April near Lisbon.  Members of the Board, the Global Executive Team and the Global Operations Team came together from Belgium, Estonia, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, UK, and USA. Topics discussed were the state of the movement, the development of procedures and resources for the […]

STC Madrid has served their city for 6 years now and is one of our leading cities.  In addition to their regular volunteering activities, they have been quite active in the area of corporate social responsibility, offering many opportunities to serve for Madrid’s workforce through their jobs.  They were also the first city to launch […]

Recently 40 of Serve the City Geneva’s enthusiastic volunteers became beneficiaries for the night, enjoying a delicious gourmet meal provided by Italian chef Walter el Nagar to thank them for their service. Of course, there was still room for some volunteering, as four newcomers offered to be serving staff for the evening, supported by two […]

Our friends in Manila interested in starting Serve the City there recently held a pre-launch event, consisting of a morning of cleaning the streets followed by basketball with the community.  We wish them the best as they work through the process of becoming an official Serve the City project and hope to see them on […]

STC Newport News hosted an STC US Training on 10 February.  As we continue to expand in the US we hope this will be the first of many such trainings made available.

On 10 February Serve the City Cork celebrated completing their first year of serving their city.  In their words, here are the highlights for the past year: •      We set up our STC Cork leadership team composed of (9) leaders of churches and other charitable organisations across the city •      We served over 350 hours in our community with a […]

Congratulations to Serve the City Luxembourg on celebrating their 5th anniversary of serving their city last month!  Check out the impressive quantity and quality of regularly scheduled projects and activities on their Facebook page and website.

Tour the City is a project of Serve the City Dublin which seeks to enhance social inclusion and to initiate an integration process for Refugees and Asylum Seekers that reside in Direct Provision Centres (DPCs) in the Greater Dublin Area. Our volunteer leaders organise fortnightly cultural tours that introduce the residents of DPCs to Irish culture, […]

Jerry McCarty is an International Ambassador for Serve the City. He leads small teams of volunteers to cities in the Interested Life Stage to help them move to the Starting Stage.  This fall, Jerry and Scott Furushima traveled throughout Asia and South America representing STC in the countries of Japan, Indonesia, The Philippines, and Ecuador. […]

STC Berlin hosted this year’s International Forum on 26-29 October, and it was our biggest Forum yet.  While many of the STC cities across the world meet regionally and nationally together, the IF each year is the premier gathering of people in our movement world-wide.  IF17 Berlin saw around 95 people gather from across the STCi movement, including […]

Congratulations STC Lisbon on 10 years of serving your city and leading the way for many other cities!  Your community dinners in particular have been an inspiration for many of us.

At our 2016 International Forum in Amsterdam we resolved to be better story tellers.  In less than 3 weeks we will be assembling again this year in Berlin, where we will be bringing our stories to share with one another.  At our recent online All City meeting last month we got a small preview with some stories […]

At Serve the City we actively seek to cross the lines that divide us in our cities, but sometimes, unexpectedly, the line comes to us.  Sheryl McElwee of STC Dublin recently had this experience in Dublin with her son (in her words): Today Andrew came to visit from London. We were in town for a while and […]

Invitations have gone out and registration is now available for the 2017 International Forum in Berlin on 26-29 October. The International Forum in Amsterdam last year was fun and inspiring – as well as an opportunity to make deeply meaningful connections with STC leaders from many different cities.  We are working hard to make this year’s Forum even […]

Members of the Serve the City International Leadership Team: Carlton Deal (Brussels) and Alfredo Abreu (Lisbon), accompanied by Christine Thumm (Berlin), took to the road for a week in June to visit our STC cities in Germany. Following last year’s successful road trip in the Netherlands to visit our Dutch STC cities, this year it was […]

Serve the City Catania in Sicily became our first STC city in Italy with their successful 3 day launch at the end of June. They served in partnership with the Commune di Catania and NAS Sigonella, an air base operated by the Italian Air Force and the US Navy.  A video of the projects can be seen here. […]

STC Madrid Serves STC Amsterdam STC Madrid sent some volunteers to Amsterdam to help them with their 10th anniversary celebration last month.  We’re hoping this great example of serving one another spreads throughout our cities, and more of our cities are inspired to visit each other and experience their global STC family! STC Teams From Around the […]

New STC’s Springing Up all Over Spring is a time for fresh new growth and Serve the City is no exception.  In addition to the recent launches of STC’s in Newport News, VA and Mexico City, there are three more new STC’s starting on the same day this month in Mons, Belgium; Talsi, Latvia; and Bluffton, SC. […]

Serve the City Launched in Newport News Virginia  A report from the organizers: “The Serve the City Newport News Kickoff Event on March 25th was a great success!! We had over 160 volunteers and leaders serving around the East End of Newport News, Virginia.  Teams were out in the community picking up litter, doing landscaping […]

Meet Pratya: STC Brussels Intern Pratya was born in India and has lived in Singapore, then Denmark, where she earned her International Baccalaureate degree last year.  During her gap year she worked for a time at a law firm dealing with refugees in Copenhagen until she went to teach English as a volunteer with STC Madrid […]

Serve the City Cork Launched!  A launch event for Serve The City Cork was held on 28 January.  The entire board of directors of Serve the City Ireland traveled to the city of Cork to engage, inform and to learn from some great people who have a purpose and heart to launch STC in Ireland’s second largest city.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! STCi Partners with Team Hope for Christmas Deliveries  Serve the City International partnered with Team Hope of Ireland in December to deliver Christmas packages to children in need in several of our European cities.  Team Hope provided the boxes of gifts for our teams of volunteers to distribute amongst the groups we serve […]

Six Years of Serving in Geneva Serve the City International Board member and STC Ireland leader Alan McElwee recently visited with STC Geneva and returned with the following report: “Six years on and STC Geneva is still serving the needs of people in their city. My recent visit there (second last weekend in Oct) allowed […]

Special Edition Newsletter: Report from Amsterdam! On 21-22 October 80 people from 23 cities all over the world came together in Amsterdam with a common goal: sharing ideas, resources and stories!  Inspiring… Fulfilling… Encouraging… Energizing… These were just a few of the words used by attenders to describe the 2016 International Forum.  A big thanks to the Serve the […]

Last Call for the STC International Forum! Less than 3 weeks until our annual International Forum in Amsterdam!  Register now and don’t miss out on this great opportunity to grow together and learn from one another as cities from all over the world come together. Special Celebration Coming Up In Berlin Serve the City Berlin celebrates […]

Serve the City Kentucky Celebrates 10th Year! Congratulations to Serve the City Kentucky on the celebration of their 10th year of serving their communities! Interested in Starting in Your City? We are starting a New City Cohort this month for those interested in starting Serve the City in their city in the next 6-9 months.  For more information, please contact us […]

Serving cities since 2005 STCi becomes an “international NGO” in 2016 PRESS RELEASE Brussels, September 2, 2016 Serve the City is excited to announce the legal constitution of “Serve the City International” or “STCi”, an international non-profit organization registered in Belgium on September 1, 2016. Since its first volunteer initiative in 2005 in Brussels, Serve […]

Forum Registration is Now Open! Invitations have gone out and the registration for the 2016 Serve the City International Forum is now open.  If you are interested in attending the Forum and did not receive an invitation, please request one here. Register now to join us in Amsterdam on 20-23 October! New Serve the City […]

PaxX Team Members On UK End to End Ride to Fight Human Trafficking Members of the Serve the City sponsored PaxX bike racing team are riding from one end of the UK (Land’s End) to the other (John o’Groats) this month to raise money for Oasis Belgium, an organization that works with exploited and trafficked Thai women. The […]

Mumford and Sons Donate Banjo When Mumford and Sons recently played in concert in Antwerp, they donated an autographed, custom “Belgium” banjo for auction to benefit Serve the City Belgium. This donation was not solicited and consequently a great surprise for Serve the City! The auction closed on 3 June and the final winning bid was for $1825, most […]

A Message from our Founder… Greetings from Brussels! From our team to yours, thank you for serving! Serve the City is a movement in cities and it’s also a movement of cities. New cities are joining our family all the time – in Portugal, in Haiti, in the Netherlands, and soon in new contexts like Romania. […]

Food4Friends in Brussels Celebrates 5 Years at Gare du Nord On 10 March the 5th Anniversary of Food4Friends was celebrated with a wonderful Community Dinner at the Brussels Gare du Nord, where Nino Ostojic and his volunteers have faithfully served the homeless community for 5 years. It was an incredible night of serving and spending time […]

Serve the City International Leadership Team Retreat 2016 Serve the City International leaders from Brussels, Madrid, Berlin, Lisbon, Dublin and Tallinn gathered for a retreat in Ireland in February. As a follow-up to the Lisbon Resolution from the November International Forum, the participants crafted this vision statement of where they hoped the movement to be […]

Serve the City Diemen Wins Prize from Local Newspaper Serve the City Diemen was awarded the prize for Diemenaar van het Jaar 2015 by Diemer News.  The happy and greatly surprised board members immediately responded by saying, “This award is for all the volunteers.” In their 30 December article Diemer News stated: “The jury awarded […]

Serve the City and Team Hope Ireland Partner to Deliver Gift Boxes to Refugees From Alan McElwee, with Team Hope and Serve the City Ireland:  “At a time of tension and some distrust towards refugees, Serve the City Brussels and Berlin partnered with Team Hope Ireland, to distribute around 8,000 Christmas Shoebox gifts to children […]

Serve the City Paris Continues to Bring Light in Dark Times Following the tragic attacks last month in Paris, Serve the City Paris did not cancel any events, but asked their volunteers if they wished to serve or take a pause.  Not only did most of their volunteers join, but some who were not scheduled asked […]

STC Haarlem Holds 8th Bi-Annual Project Day  Serve the City Haarlem holds a big project day every spring and autumn.  On 17 October they held their autumn project day, sending out 70 volunteers to 17 different projects. Rooms were painted, gardens were cleaned, and some volunteers helped the elderly or spent time with children with special needs. […]

Congratulations to STC Diemen and STC Ireland on Awards Received Serve the City Diemen was awarded first prize amongst 16 presenters in the city-wide campaign “Small Action, Big Result”. They received an award of 250 euros to develop their idea for connecting local families with newly arrived refugees in Diemen. Serve the City Ireland received the Dublin […]

Serve the City Responds to Refugee Crisis Serve the City teams across Europe have been working hard to provide support during the current refugee crisis.  Pleas for supplies are continually going out and being updated daily. Volunteers have assisted with the gathering and delivering of donated items, as well as visiting and spending time with […]

Serve the City Paris Holds Youth Camp in July Serve the City Paris held a week of serving projects with their Youth Camp on 6-11 July.  They served in 13 different projects involving 6 partnerships with local organizations. Volunteers spent the week preparing and delivering food, tutoring, cleaning, collecting, sorting, moving, and generally crossing the line to serve […]

Serve the City Brussels Holds 11th Big Volunteer Week Serve the City Brussels gathered approximately 120 volunteers a day for a week beginning on 27 June to serve all over the city. The Big Volunteer Week in Brussels was where the Serve the City movement began and continues to spread around the world. Volunteers gathered […]

Serve the City Ireland Has 3 City Combined Serve Day On 15 May Serve the City Galway, Limerick and Dublin gathered for a combined SERVE day in Limerick City as a part of Volunteer Ireland’s National Volunteer Week.  The Community Clean-Up Day was a great success. Serve the City Rotterdam Holds Annual 3 Day Ascension Action On 14-16 […]

U.S. and Netherlands Hold National STC Forums Serve the City US held its first national forum on 23-25 April in Baltimore, MD.  The forum was physically attended by representatives from cities in Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Florida and Arizona, while leaders in various other cities were able to join remotely. Best practices were shared and common […]

Serve the City Paris Launched! Serve the City Paris made its debut the week of 21-28 March with a wide variety of projects. These projects included assisting the elderly and handicapped, serving meals, and racing for a cause by participating in a 7K run benefiting a school in Madagascar in need of continuous running water […]

Madrid City Leader to take on rCSR Development for 2015 Warren Batt, Executive Director of Serve the City Madrid and Network Coordinator for Serve the City in Spain, has agreed to take the lead on developing rCSR for the STC global movement in 2015.  In our version of Corporate Social Responsibility we’ve added a small “r” in front, which stands […]

Serve the City Ireland Hosts Regional Forum Serve the City Ireland had its first regional forum on 17January.  Representatives from Dublin, Galway and Limerick attended, and plans are to expand the forum later this year to include Serve the City leaders from the UK, who could not attend this time around. Serve the City Ireland […]

Serve the City Lisbon Receives Volunteering Award The global Serve the City family will be happy to know Serve the City Lisboa recently received the top national volunteer award – Troféu Português de Voluntariado 2014. This recognition arose from the project “Community Workshops”, a spin off initiative of the Community Dinners, named “Flagship Project” by the European Commission […]

2014 International Forum a Great Success Our annual Serve the City International Forum was held on 20-23 November in Leuven.  Over 60 Serve the City leaders participated from 25 different cities around the world. Featured were presentations on the results of a professional survey done of our cities, reports on CSR partnerships, and tips on […]

The International Forum Starts in Less than 2 Weeks! Our annual Serve the City International Forum begins on     20 November in Leuven and features a 10th Anniversary Celebration in Brussels.  If you are planning to attend, please register ASAP!  Registration closes 17 November.  If you didn’t receive an invitation and need more information, please contact us. […]

International Forum Is Almost Here! Invitations have gone out and plans for the best forum yet are in the works.  If you are planning to attend, please register ASAP!  If you didn’t receive an invitation and need more information, please contact us.  Hope to see you in Leuven in November! International 10 Day Photo Challenge City Leaders, watch […]

Serve the City Ouagadougou! Serve the City was recently launched in Burkina Faso with 10 volunteers leading some sports activities with street children in the capital city of Ouagadougou.  These activities allowed the volunteers to “cross the line” and get to know these children not only by their needs, but by their names, in the […]

LIMERICK: Serve the City Limerick was launched in February of this year, and on 24 July they were featured in an article in the Limerick Post.  Founders John Buckley and Etan Blass were also interviewed on 31 July for the radio program Limerick Today on LIVE 95FM. LUXEMBOURG:  Local newspaper Telecran came along on Serve the City […]