RKVC stands for Red Knights Volunteer Corps, and it is a club at BSM that gives students opportunities to volunteer. This year is a little different because of COVID. Students have a lot fewer volunteering opportunities, and the volunteering requirements have changed.

The number of volunteering opportunities is a lot less than in the past because people just don’t need volunteers right now. ”At this time last year, I had 34 opportunities already for RKVC kids. This year we had four,” Head of RKVC, Becca Meagher said.

In the past, many of the volunteering opportunities were for big events that no longer can happen because they have big crowds. A lot of the organizations that would have needed students no longer need them because they have canceled the events that would have used volunteers. “We are missing all of the fall festivals from churches, and all of the Halloween and autumn parties,” Meagher said.

The rules for RKVC are different this year because of how few opportunities are being brought to the group’s attention. In the past, students were required to complete four volunteering services a semester. In the past, Meagher also held monthly meetings to just check-in with students, but she will no longer be hosting those. “We chose to waive the requirements. You don’t have to do any number of events this year,” Meagher said.

This year, some students are doing online volunteering, but there aren’t as many opportunities because there isn’t much a volunteer can do online when it comes to volunteering. “One example is students recording themselves reading a story that we could push out to some of our partner schools,” Meagher said.

For the few students who have gotten to volunteer in person, the rules regarding COVID are specific to each organization. RKVC itself doesn’t have any new rules because of COVID. “Whoever the organizer is of the event they might have some particular COVID restrictions or rules, but we as RKVC don’t have any set,” Meagher said.

Overall, students have been taking this change very well. “The hardest part will be new students because once things go back to normal, the requirements will feel really hard for them. “I think that they understand that it is different, but I think that it will be hardest for our new kids who don’t know the expectation of RKVC,” Meagher said.