Dwight Hall Hosts Yale Day of Service Project

On November 20, 2025, Dwight Hall engaged alumni participating in the Yale Alumni Association (YAA) Assembly and Yale Alumni Fund Convocation in three service opportunities, marking the second time a Yale Day of Service project was offered at the annual convening of alumni leaders. 

Led by Dwight Hall staff and students, more than 35 volunteers created personalized greeting cards for Citymeals on Wheels, assembled personal care kits, and sorted donated clothes for community partners across New Haven. Mara Balk, Associate Director for Volunteer Engagement at the YAA, and João Aleixo, Director of Service Programs at the YAA, supported the production of the Day of Service. 

Alumni convened in Dwight Hall’s Lovett Common Room before breaking into three service groups. 

One of the volunteer activities was Dwight Hall’s personal care kits project, which has been offered during Yale College reunions for the past four years. Through this project, alumni assembled care kits filled with health and hygiene products for distribution to individuals facing homelessness or housing insecurity. Each care kit contained a personalized message from alumni and guests that fostered a sense of hope and personal reflection. 

More than 200 personal care kits were created and distributed to local community partners like Community Soup Kitchen.  

The second offering brought alumni volunteers to sort donated clothes, where they separated and prepared clothing for distribution to community partners. Dwight Hall works with local groups, including Loaves and Fishes, Community Soup Kitchen, the New Haven Pride Center, and others, to distribute clothing to community members in need. 

Gloria McComas, a dual MPH/PA student at Yale, facilitates the program throughout the academic year, during which volunteers come to Dwight Hall on Mondays bimonthly to sort through donated clothes. 

When asked about her engagement as the clothing sort coordinator, Gloria stated the following: “As a recently returned Peace Corps volunteer, it was very important to me to establish community and keep service centered in my life when starting as a new graduate student this fall. I wanted to be not just a student at Yale, but a member of the New Haven community, as well.” She continued by stating, “I quickly found that Dwight Hall was the place I needed to be, and I am grateful to have formed connections with local leaders who continue to teach me how I can best be of service to New Haven.” 

The third project brought alumni to create personalized greeting cards for Citymeals on Wheels, an organization dedicated to providing meals and companionship to New York City’s homebound elderly. 

Kitty Koo-Tse ’01 M.S., a Yale Graduate School Alumni Association Board member, led the project. “I chose Citymeals on Wheels because many of the people they serve live alone and don’t see individuals frequently. I hope these cards, though a small gesture, help brighten their day and remind them that someone is thinking of them,” she reflected. 

Dwight Hall events have long worked to connect students and alumni by directly engaging with communities in New Haven and beyond, and the Day of Service was a reminder of that. 

The Yale Day of Service event exemplifies the Engage pillar of Dwight Hall’s Engage, Grow, and Advance program delivery model. As part of this pillar, Dwight Hall students, alumni, and member groups work to build meaningful relationships between Yale and the New Haven community through direct service and civic participation.