Seton Hill's 'Labor of Love' gives back to community

Seton Hill University basketball player Taylin Tyler got up early Saturday morning and joined about 300 of her classmates, faculty, staff and alumni in doing a variety of community service tasks at about 35 sites on campus and at nonprofit organizations in the Greensburg, Latrobe and North Huntingdon areas.

“We like to give back to the community. The community supports us. It’s something we can do for the community,”said Tyler, a senior from East Liberty, who intends to earn her master’s degree in special education after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

“I want to be a trauma specialist to help children with special needs,” Tyler said.

Tyler and her teammates were part of Seton Hill University’s 26th annual Labor of Love, Saturday of Service.

“We do this to continue the long legacy of service that was started by the Sisters of Charity (founders of Seton Hill). It’s a great opportunity for our community to remember our charism,” said Marissa Haynes, director of service experience at Seton Hill. Some projects were done on the Greensburg campus because of covid-19, Haynes said.

They took time off from their textbooks or practicing shooting hoops to pick up shovels and get their hands dirty at Hempfield Park. They helped plant about 20 trees and 18 perennials along a hillside, the dog park and the entrance way to the indoor athletic facility.

“It was really great the university was able to pull this off,” said Kelly Sundberg, assistant coach for the women’s basketball team. “We decided as a team that we wanted to do this.”

They were planting Brandywine maples, river birches, dawn redwoods — a lot of native species that are both hardwoods and ornamentals — to provide shade along a hillside overlooking a site where concerts are held, as well as absorb water from underground springs, said Eric Caldwell, a Hempfield parks and recreation employee.

“The Labor of Love has partnered with us in the past, and the Seton Hill students have partnered with us on events such as the Fall Family Nights,” said Aaron Siko, township parks director.

Some of Seton Hill’s 40 baseball players joined the effort at Hempfield Park, said Marc Marizzaldi, Seton Hill’s baseball coach.

“Our entire team has participated in Labor of Love all over the place,” said Marizzaldi, noting they have volunteered in the past. Players were volunteering at about eight sites.

At the Faith Forward building in downtown Latrobe, four girls who were friends from the Hanover area of York County joined forces to paint doors, bricks and the entryway and wash windows at the building known as “Mozart Hall.”

“I think they do a really fantastic job. I really appreciate what they do here,” said Emily Lawrence of McSherrystown, who was joined by friends Lizzy Tyral of Berlin, Twayna Meyers of Central City and Anna Martz of Hanover.

Their work was appreciated, said Joyce Sterling, a counselor at Faith Forward Ministries, a nonprofit that provides counseling and other human services such as addiction recovery support, employment and housing assistance.

“These girls have been a big help every year.”