Early on a Saturday morning when most teenagers are still asleep, 25 Pennington students board two buses bound for Quinton Township, deep in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Upon arrival, armed with rakes, shovels, and clippers, the students forge into the overgrown cemetery at Berry's Chapel and start cleaning.

Such is a typical outing of the Youth Service Fellowship at The Pennington School. Community service is not a requirement at Pennington, and yet most students are eager to get involved and give their time to others. Pennington students are quick to realize how fortunate they are and how much they have to offer, and they feel rewarded in knowing that they have helped someone, someplace, or something in need.

Community service is evident every day at Pennington. Throughout the year, students use their talents to tutor elementary school students in Trenton. Students decorate bags for the Meals on Wheels program for the elderly. Dress down days raise money for a variety of charities. Fall brings the annual gleaning, where students clear any remaining crops from a nearby farm for a local food pantry, and the CROP walk, which raises money for hunger-fighting development efforts in more than 80 countries. Thanksgiving inspires the annual food drive, with the mitten tree and coat drive following in December. The holiday Home Front Dinner brings smiles to the faces of homeless families who otherwise could not afford to celebrate. In the spring, students participate in the Empty Bowls project, selling ceramic bowls they make in the art rooms to support the hungry. Walk America teams are also formed to support the March of Dimes fight against birth defects and infant mortality.

Each year also brings special service opportunities to Pennington students. During the 2002- 2003 school year, students organized Operation Shoebox, gathering a mountain of supplies to send to American troops in Iraq. Other students devoted their spring break to service as they traveled to Costa Rica, painting a rural two-room school, building a playground, and doing educational and recreational activities with the students. The Middle School Community Day allowed students to visit a local nursery school, while the chorus performed at a nearby retirement home and others cleaned a town park.

Reflecting on her years at Pennington, one senior remarked, "Some of my most memorable moments at Pennington have been spent doing community service. The smiles on the kids' faces at the Home Front dinner made me feel so good each year, and the laughs we had while fighting the weeds at Berry's Chapel Cemetery will never be forgotten. Sometimes it is hard to squeeze activities into my busy schedule, but how can you not do something that makes such a big difference?"