What happens when the Hoboken Grace and local community come together for a day full of community service projects? Local parks are cleaned, chipped fences are painted, and, at the Hoboken Shelter, food is organized and prepared. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. This year, 1Day Hoboken had over 300 volunteers working on 30 different projects across the city.    

1Day is a lot of work, but it’s a lot of fun too. Luke Hoerle is a graduate student at Stevens University. He’s working towards his MBA and is a member of the Stevens wrestling team. Stevens wrestling has been participating in 1Day for several years, and, after volunteering last year, Luke was excited to spend the day with his teammates making a difference. 

“I wanted to come back because last year we all had a great time cleaning up the beaches,” says Luke. The Ducks spent 1Day in north Hoboken pulling weeds, removing driftwood, and cleaning trash on the Hudson River waterfront. “It was a great way to bond with each other, but it also felt really good to help out the city and keep this place clean. And the after party is a lot of fun too. Overall, we really enjoy it, so we were excited to come back to help out.”

While there are some projects that entail heavy lifting—these projects are perfect for a wrestling team—there are also plenty of 1Day projects available for families with young children. Sarah and Mike Bostwick signed up for 1Day with their three-year-old daughter, Caroline. 

“It was really exciting to take Caroline with us,” says Sarah. The Bostwicks spent their day cleaning Hoboken’s Northwest Resiliency Park. In addition to Caroline, there was a whole group of kids helping sweep sand, rake wood chips, and pick up trash at a park they enjoy nearly every day. “We’ve been working to instill the idea of, ‘We don’t just live here, we love here,’ with her. That God loves us and cares for us. So we were excited to show her that we can love our city and care for our city the way God loves and cares for us.” 

It takes a lot of people to organize an event like 1Day. Hoboken Grace’s all-volunteer Bridge Events team spends the months prior working with the city to find meaningful, needed projects. They also gather supplies, plan the after party, and organize volunteers. 

“Bridge Events has granted me the opportunity to make an impact on the home I love so much, Hoboken!” says Jenna Pierro. Jenna’s been serving on the Bridge Events team for two years and says 1Day is among her favorite community events at Hoboken Grace. “Connecting with the community and meeting new faces allows us to introduce Hoboken Grace to new people in town. And it’s so rewarding to walk away from the project feeling like you made an impact and made Hoboken that much of a better place to live.”

Don’t want to miss out on opportunities to serve the Hoboken community? Stay in the loop by downloading the Hoboken Grace app and checking out our ‘Events’ page.