Service Opportunities with Right to Life
Last weekend, the RTL board had the opportunity to participate in Georgetown University’s first ever virtual CAB fair to introduce new students to our club and its mission. I enjoyed meeting those who stopped by and was especially impressed by one first-year student. She shared that she felt passionately about our work with pregnancy resource centers, but did not agree with some of the club’s positions on major issues and wondered whether Right to Life was a club for her. This interaction made me realize just how different our programming for this semester (and maybe even year) will look, especially in regard to service.
Service opportunities tend to be some of the most popular RTL events each year, attracting students that may not engage with our club on a regular basis but feel drawn to a particular cause. These are the students, like the first-year I met at CAB year, that we risk losing as members due to the challenges of the semester’s virtual format. For this reason, I wanted to spend a few moments to introduce prospective and new members to some of the ways Georgetown Right to Life has engaged in service in previous years.
Diaper Drives
If you’ve had any exposure to RTL before now, you will have heard of our diaper drives. Most semesters, we organize one Saturday morning diaper drive per month. Volunteers stand outside the entrances of our local Safeway and collect donations--anything from diapers and wipes to formula--from shoppers for a nearby pregnancy resource center. At the end of the event, we typically have three shopping carts full of supplies for Northwest Pregnancy Resource Center or Hope in NOVA. Be on the lookout for information about this semester’s virtual diaper drive if you’re interested in this type of event.
Babysitting
Right to Life offers free babysitting to graduate and undergraduate Georgetown students with children. We continue to provide this service for those on or near campus this semester. Those in need simply contact a board member and will be connected with a student with availability.
Blood Drives
One of our newest and most popular service events are the blood drives we host in partnership with INOVA once a semester. Students, faculty, and visitors can sign up to donate whole blood or plasma and help save lives. Those who wish to serve but cannot donate are invited to help with donor check-in.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of the club’s in-person service events; Last year, for instance, we also participated in HoyaThon, planned a jail visit through the Prison Justice Initiative to educate ourselves on ways we can serve this community, contributed to Jesuit Refugee Service's Postcard initiative, and began exploring opportunities to serve at local food pantries. This year, we will continue to launch new initiatives to respond to the unique needs (and challenges) posed by the pandemic. To all new and prospective members, I hope this helps illustrate how GURTL seeks to advance the pro-life mission in our community - whatever your beliefs, we hope you will join us in service this semester!
Mary Hope Rawlins (NHS 22’)
