As a Xaverian Brothers Sponsored School, we are called to address the needs of our community. Whether it’s through donating food or cleaning up neighborhoods, it is through these actions that we put ourselves in God’s service as followers of Christ.
Within St. X we have our own service club called the Ryken Service Club. A club which revolves its meetings around living out the mission of the Xaverian Brothers. The club was started two months into the 1994-1995 school year by our beloved religion teacher, Mr. Kresse (note he had started working at St. X that same year).
To advertise the club through the student body, he had sent out a message (like WSTX) for students interested in involving themselves more in service. Only 15 students showed up to the club, but they became the nucleus of it. This was the beginning of the leadership team for the club. These students involved themselves out of the pure goodness of their heart instead of trying to build up hours. They felt a calling to give back to their community.
At the start of the club, three main service projects were done at least twice a month. The first was Project Warm which is a project that weatherproofs homes for people who cannot afford it. The second was Habitat for Humanity which is a project that built homes for people who do not have one. The third and final one was Repair Fair which was a project that helped fix up homes for homeowners that were unable to afford repairs.
In 2008 the club expanded by creating a main club in addition to the leadership team. This allowed for a larger group of students interested in service to learn about more service projects around the school and city community. Also, instead of the main service project available, students were able to create their own. This includes St. Joseph of Arimathea Society, 56 day blood club, and Zaxby’s blood drive. The most recent is the Tiger Care food drive created in 2020.
In 2021 Mr. Kresse stepped down as service coordinator and moderator of the club as he felt it was time to allow new ideas to come into service.
“What I feel is very important for members to understand is there is a great joy from serving others, especially those in need,” Kresse said. “One thing I discovered in my own life when I lived in Eastern Kentucky is helping others sometimes puts our own problems into perspective. We realize that it’s important to give the gift we have received to others. There is joy in giving that gift. Connect it to the Xaverian Brothers. They are all about mission. They could have built a wall around us to be exclusive or they could have built roads all around us to be inclusive. They chose to build roads to serve others. If you are going to be a student at St. X then it is important to carry on the mission of the Xaverian Brothers to those in need.”
Though Mr. Kresse may not be leading the club anymore, he still heavily involves himself within service.
The Ryken Service Club is the engine that runs this school. It is simply living out the fundamental principles of the Xaverian Brothers by “falling in love with the service of God”. As students of a Xaverian Brothers Sponsored School, we should continue the legacy the Xaverian Brothers and Mr. Kresse set for generations to come.
