Serving Stories – Serve the City International

When we encountered the Short kids in southern New Jersey (USA) last year, they showed us that Short people have lots of reasons to live… and lots of ways to give! In this episode, we discover how a few families coming together to serve their cities—with lots of kids of all ages—is motivating other families […]

"Small people doing small things together can make a big difference." Meet Lucy, the 11 year old daughter of the Serve the City Baltimore director, Erin. Lucy has been volunteering for half her life in a variety of projects—including some on the mean streets of the inner city. She and her mom share with us how the humility of a kid serving others can make a big difference, now and in the years to come.

“Respect is given, not earned.” In this episode of Serving Stories, we travel to Krakow, Poland to see how volunteers are showing respect to the homeless this Christmas season. We also voyage to Brussels, Belgium and Nairobi, Kenya to explore how service is giving self-respect to people in need. Welcome to our second season in which we will be exploring the six values of Serve the City-humility, compassion, respect, courage, love, and hope- as they play out in Serving Stories around the...

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 on the creativity of 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.

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!

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.

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...

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...

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.

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