what is 4boston?

4boston is the one of the largest weekly service organizations at any college or university. Boston College students commit to one year at one social service, health, or education placement, serving 4 hours per week and participating in one hour of group reflection.

  The aim of 4Boston is twofold:

1) to provide students with a significant extended urban service experience which is enriched by regular opportunities for reflection on and analysis of the work in which they are engaging

2) to provide reliable, consistent assistance to Boston agencies which work with and on behalf of the city's poor and marginalized.

  Working among the poor, the ill, and the marginalized inevitably raises the universal questions of life's meaning, justice, and purpose, and the Judeo-Christian tradition offers rich resources for addressing these questions. However, people of all faiths (and of no particular religious affiliation) are welcome to participate in 4Boston. 

  It is our firm belief that action without reflection risks despair and reflection without action risks irrelevance, and it is our explicit hope that 4Boston students will grow intellectually, morally, and spiritually through regular service to others and through disciplined reflection on that service.