By Love, They Serve: St Cuthbert’s Supporting CFC
At a time when food insecurity is rising across Aotearoa, one school that continues to stand out for its generosity, compassion, and long-standing commitment to service is St Cuthbert’s College. Located in Epsom, Auckland, St Cuthbert’s is a Presbyterian-based boarding school for girls aged 5 to 18 years.
Guided by its powerful motto “By Love Serve”, St Cuthbert’s has been supporting Communities Feeding Communities (CFC) in Mount Roskill since its inception. Each term, both the Junior and Senior schools at St Cuthbert’s coordinate food drives to support CFC’s foodbank and community space. As the needs in the community have increased, so too has the school’s response; with the school now donating approximately $10,000 worth of food every term.
This ongoing support reflects more than just generosity; it reflects a deep understanding of service and a community putting love into action.
Senior Students Roll Up Their Sleeves
Most Thursday afternoons during the school term, senior students from St Cuthbert’s visit CFC as part of their service programme. These visits involve unpacking food donations, preparing parcels to go out to the community, and engaging with CFC staff in the garden and the community kitchen to better understand the work being done.
This hands-on experience has deepened their connection to the cause. They get to see the direct impact of their donations, ask questions, and connect with the realities faced by many families in the community. This experience has led to increased enthusiasm not only in the service days themselves, but also in the broader donation efforts back at school.
Junior Students Making a Big Difference
The Junior School at St Cuthbert’s has also played a vital role in supporting CFC. While these younger students don’t yet attend service trips, their contributions have been heartfelt and meaningful.
One of the ways the junior students have worked to connect their service efforts with the realities of life is by taking it upon themselves to do extra chores at home to earn money. They then use this money to purchase food items for the school’s foodbank drive. Their efforts came into the spotlight at the Just Stories launch held at CFC in May 2025, where a group of junior students attended the event with their parents and a teacher to share their experiences.
Members of the Just Stories team interviewed students and were moved by their genuine enthusiasm. Their eagerness to unpack donations, pack food parcels, and see the impact of their efforts reflects a growing sense of responsibility, compassion, and commitment to community service.
A Partnership Rooted in Service
The relationship between St Cuthbert’s College and Communities Feeding Communities is a powerful example of what can happen when schools and community organisations come together with shared purpose.
By embedding the value of service into their culture, and by actively participating in real, community-focused work, St Cuthbert’s is showing its students what it truly means to live by their motto “By Love Serve”.
