Like A DOVE Ascending
Donors to the Division of Volunteer Efforts enabled Angela Alvarez's life-changing service in El Salvador
As a first-generation student who navigated the transition from high school to college,
Angela Alvarez was determined to excel academically when she entered Seton Hall in
the fall of 2022. At the same time, even as Alvarez remained laser-focused on coursework
during freshman year, she still felt the call of service. Volunteerism had been a
part of Alvarez’s life since high school, so when she learned about Seton Hall’s Division
of Volunteer Efforts (DOVE), she was eager to get involved.
DOVE has become a “second home,” says Alvarez, who also serves as a resident assistant
at Seton Hall, providing support and mentorship for peers on campus. She secured a
federal work-study role as a program coordinator for DOVE, organizing student-led
service projects such as babysitting and hospice visits. Her personal volunteer efforts
through DOVE have included serving as a poll worker and distributing food to the homeless
at Newark Penn Station.
Alvarez’s most transformative volunteer opportunities were made possible by donors who support DOVE’s mission to “raise the awareness of the Seton Hall University community to social injustice through direct involvement in serving others.” Funding from these donors supports trips to impoverished communities in the U.S. and around the globe, covering participants’ travel, food, and living expenses.
DOVE's mission statement emphasizes a "desire to affirm the dignity of all people and live as Christ taught us by putting our faith into action." Programs made possible by donor contributions range from weekly soup-kitchen visits to trips to Haiti, El Salvador, and other global communities in need of aid.
Alvarez has participated in three such trips, one to Philadelphia, and two to El Mozote, a remote, formerly war-torn village in northeast El Salvador. In addition to distributing food and other resources — diapers, baby formula, medication, etc. — her DOVE cohort traveled with a priest who celebrated mass for the local population, which lacks a priest of its own. Beyond that, the group spent time visiting and talking with area families. “A lot of it is just being a presence for these people who are experiencing difficulties in their lives,” says Alvarez.
These opportunities have made me feel like I'm a part of something much bigger than myself.”
Spending time in El Mozote helped Alvarez reconnect with her Catholic upbringing;
she says the trips strengthened her relationship with God. They also strengthened
her commitment to social justice, which is an area Alvarez would like to focus on
in a future career as a lawyer. She’s on track to complete her bachelor’s degree in
political science and government in December 2025, and she’s studying for the LSAT.
Wherever her path leads, Alvarez will carry her DOVE experiences with her.
“Servant leadership to me is about being selfless,” she says. “These opportunities
have made me feel like I’m a part of something much bigger than myself. I hope I can
inspire other people to do the same.”