Caring for Our Community
At LCC we believe that our impact does, and should continue to, reach beyond the edges of our campus. LCC is not an institution that exists just for itself, or just for our students, but it is a place that we hope impacts the global world that we live in today. Our mission at LCC is to “provide a Christian liberal arts education within a diverse learning community that transforms people for servant leadership.” That last part, transforming people for servant leadership, is a key part of our work and identity as a university. We seek to provide service-learning opportunities for students to engage with the needs of local, regional, and global communities. The goal of the Service-Learning program is to develop servant leaders who can identify needs within their community and learn how to effectively apply their unique knowledge, skills, and talents to be a catalyst for change.
Learning Outcomes
Get Involved
1. Follow the Service-Learning Team on Instagram @lcc_servicelearning
2. Attend a Service Club meeting
Service Club has an open meeting policy, so join us any time! We will discuss current volunteering opportunities, make plans to go with friends, learn how to add our volunteering experience on a CV and more! We meet Thursdays in Room 202 at 18:30.
3. Find a place to volunteer! Contact the listed representative to learn more about available time slots and opportunities.
Volunteer Opportunities
Draugas Draugui – Mariia Tarasiuk
Volunteer in a thrift shop that has the goal to make positive change in the community and support social projects. Volunteers are needed to sort clothes and help in other ways. To see this week’s availability, please see our sign up link here. Language: English, Lithuanian
Maisto Bankas (Food Bank) – Yahor Rameika
Various opportunities throughout the year to organize food donations and support special projects. Apply to be a volunteer here. Language: English, Lithuanian
Ukrainian Volunteer Center – Zoriana Bakalets
Participate in special projects that support Ukrainian military and families. Contact Zoriana on Teams to be added to a group chat that includes details about each week’s available times and opportunities. Language: English, Ukrainian
Išganymo Armija (Salvation Army) – Mariia Tarasiuk
Put together a fun event to engage the lonely in our community or organize programming for Ukrainian children on Saturday afternoons. Language: English, Lithuanian, Russian, Ukrainian
Caritas – Yahor Rameika
Weekly volunteering opportunity to connect with teens. Serve as a mentor and friend by teaching English and having fun. Most volunteer times are Tuesday and Thursday 15:00-19:00 or Sundays for English Club starting in October. Language: English, Lithuanian
American Corner – Zoriana Bakalets
Lead an English Club, movie night, or other event for people in Klaipeda that want to practice English or learn more about American culture. Language: English
Red Cross – Zoriana Bakalets
Volunteer in the Emergency Preparedness Program, Warm Visits (visiting seniors in their homes), and in other educational programs. Sign up here to start the process of becoming a Red Cross volunteer. Language: Lithuanian, English, Russian
The following locations can be directly contacted for additional volunteering opportunities.
Volunteer in a local animal shelter and provide care for dogs and cats. Must be 18 years or older and able to commit for a longer timeframe. Fill out the volunteer form or email info@linksmosiospedutes.lt with a CV in order to volunteer.
Volunteer in another local animal shelter and provide care for dogs and cats. One time volunteering is possible. Volunteers are needed to clean and shovel snow. Volunteers who come regularly can serve by walking dogs. Fill out the volunteer form to volunteer.
Join the Children’s Line to provide emotional support for children online or on the phone. Language: Lithuanian
4. Reflect! Join us for reflection sessions at the end of each semester. More information is available in the “Reflection Sessions” Tab.
Forms
Service Hours Form – Use this form to report your hours for each volunteering activity. Hours for the current semester must be reported by the last day of each semester. Questions about how to fill out the form? Check the Criteria Guide or contact Ashley Ray on Teams or by email at aray@lcc.lt
Hours Request Form – Use this form to request a report of the hours you have logged with LCC. REMINDER: Your hours are not verified by LCC until you have completed a reflection session for those hours.
Criteria Guide – Use this guide for understanding what DOES and DOES NOT count as service. If you have reviewed the criteria and are still not sure if your activity counts as service, contact Ashley Ray with your questions.
Reflection Sessions
What is a Reflection Session?
A Reflection Session is a one-hour gathering of 8-10 students led by a staff member to discuss the service experiences of the students from the semester. The staff member will ask questions to understand what the students did and what they learned from their experience. Students will have the chance to listen to the experiences of others and more deeply reflect on what they have learned in the past semester about their communities, themselves, and the world.
*If you are not able to attend a Reflection Session, you can email Ashley Ray aray@lcc.lt to learn more about alternatives for verifying your service hours.
Why is reflection important?
Service-Learning requires two major components: the hands-on experience of community engagement (service) and the reflective processing and application of those experiences (learning). To spend time volunteering is one thing, but if we don’t take time to stop and reflect on our actions, we will miss out on the opportunity to learn from our experiences and apply the new knowledge. Reflection Sessions provide the opportunity to process our experience in order to make meaning, deepen understanding, and broaden perspective.
Attending a Reflection Session at the end of each semester is required for LCC verifying and recognizing the hours you have served. Upon graduation, students with verified service hours will receive a certificate of recognition for those hours which can be used for CVs, applications, scholarships, and more. This certificate shows how you as an LCC student stand out from the rest of the world as servant leaders who are capable of applying their knowledge, skills, and talents to be catalysts for change.
Check back later in the semester for a list of available Reflection Sessions.
| Date | Time | Leader | Classroom | Sign Up Link |
| Info coming soon | ||||
Service-Learning Team
Our team is here to help! Let us know if you have questions about volunteering opportunities, Service Club, the Service Hours Form, and other questions related to service-learning.
What is a Service-Learning Ambassador?
A Service-Learning Ambassador (SLA) empowers students by facilitating service opportunities that promote civic engagement, community development, and servant leadership. SLAs address the needs of their community by making connections with local partners, leading Service Club, organizing service events, and encouraging active involvement in social change. Additionally, the SLA team is responsible for teaching others about service-learning, finding funding for student-led projects, and celebrating student service achievements.
Service-Learning Ambassadors 2025-2026
Left to right: Zoriana Bakalets, Yahor Rameika, Mariia Tarasiuk
“Hi! My name is Ashley Ray. I am the Service-Learning Coordinator here at LCC. You can find me in 22C or at Common Grounds. I love supporting students as they connect what they are learning in their studies to real-world experiences that can have a positive impact on their community. I am here to support you as you love and care for your neighbors on campus, in Klaipeda, and out into the world!”
FAQs
Where can I find the Service Hours Form?
You can find the Service Hours Form by going to Teams –> LCC Announcements –> General –> Quicklinks –> Service Hours Form. You can also choose the “Service Hours Form” button at the top of your Weekly Events email.
How do I use the Service Hours Form?
You will need your Name, Student ID, and Email. Choose the date your volunteering opportunity happened, keeping in mind that you should fill out this form for each individual experience (if you volunteered every day for a week, you would fill out the form once for each day/session). If you are unsure about the Type of Service, please see the link to the Criteria Guide at the top of the form for more information. If you completed the service for FYS or Class credit, you will then choose your class based on the name of the class and the professor’s last name. Include the name of the place you volunteered and the hours. Describe your service activities in 2 sentences or less. Provide information for a supervisor so LCC can confirm your service activities.
When should I fill out the Service Hours Form?
Every time you volunteer! For example: if you volunteer at Caritas every Tuesday and Thursday, you will fill out the form for the 3 hours you volunteered on Tuesday and fill it out AGAIN for the 2 hours you volunteered on Thursday. If you volunteer regularly, do not wait until the end of the semester to fill out the form multiple times!
Why is it important to register my service hours with LCC?
Once you have filled out the form for all of your volunteering experiences for the semester and attended a reflection session, your hours are verified with LCC. This means that LCC will recognize the ways in which you have gone above and beyond to serve your community and how you have been a servant leader. We provide certificates upon graduation for those who have served more than 25 hours for students to use on CVs, for further scholarships, and more. *For those graduating before 2028, please keep in mind that LCC only began tracking volunteering hours in the 2024-2025 academic year. We do not have records of hours spent volunteering before that time.
How do I know if my activity would be considered “service?”
Please see our Criteria Guide on our portal page for more information. If you have reviewed the guide and still have questions, please contact Ashley Ray at aray@lcc.lt.
Why don’t we just call it “volunteering?”
Volunteering is just one important component to what makes a servant leader. Servant leaders reflect on their volunteering experiences to make meaningful connections between their lives and the world around them. Service-learning is the combination of a volunteering experience with reflection on real-world issues, so that LCC students learn how to impact their communities in meaningful and wise ways.
Why do I need to do a reflection session every semester for LCC to verify my service hours?
Reflection is the key component to making meaning from a volunteering experience. LCC’s requirement for verification through reflection ensures that students have the opportunity to connect a hands-on experience with thoughtful reflection, which leads to changed habits and improved engagement.
When can I fill out the form for my volunteer hours?
There are two sessions in which students can register their hours. Session 1: The day after the last day of Spring semester until the last day of the Fall semester. Session 2: The day after the last day of Fall semester until the last day of Spring semester. Once the last day of each semester has passed, previously volunteered hours that are entered through the Service Hours Form will not be counted. Hours served over summer and winter breaks are recognized. For the 2025-2026 academic year, these are the session dates.
Session 1: May 3, 2025 – December 20, 2025
Session 2: December 21, 2025 – May 2, 2026
*Students can begin registering hours once they are actively enrolled. Example: Freshmen who started classes on September 1 can only fill out the form for volunteering experiences from September 1. Sophomores returning to campus can fill out the form for the previous summer’s experiences.
What is the Service Hours Request Form and why would I want to use it?
The Service Hours Request Form allows you see how many hours you have reported to LCC through the Service Hours Form. You can only request this report/fill out the form twice per semester. The information from the report can be used for scholarship applications or CVs. *LCC will only recognize your hours for graduation if you have attended Reflection Sessions at the end of each semester where you have logged volunteering hours.
