St. Joseph School students who share God’s love through homeless ministry are recognized by Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky

Bella Bailey

Multimedia Correspondent

Students at St. Joseph School, Crescent Springs, were recognized by Kim Webb, chief executive officer, Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky, Covington, with the Ralph Drees Impact Award. This annual award is presented to volunteers of the shelter and recognizes those who make an impact on the shelter and its guests. This year the students of the St. Joseph School Cavaliers Care Ministry awarded, in surprise, following an all-school Mass.

The Cavaliers Care Ministry is a parent-run volunteer organization that encourages St. Joseph School families to volunteer in their communities. The ministry has partnerships with four organizations, but Christie Pavia, founder, said that it is the Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky that impacts the students the most.

“Every time a student goes down there and humbly submits themselves to the most vulnerable in our community it’s extremely rewarding, and I think it just feeds the soul of the kids and encourages them to be the hands and feet of Jesus,” said Mrs. Pavia.

Families can register for the volunteer opportunities at the shelter through the Cavaliers Care Ministry, and serve food donated by local organizations. As guests of the shelter come through the line to receive a meal, the students and families greet them with a smile, a conversation and a human connection.

When it came time to decide who would be the recipient of the 2026 Ralph Drees Impact Ward, Mrs. Webb said that it was the students of St. Joseph who “immediately” came to mind. Their work with the guests of the shelter, “brightens up their mood and the shelter. They get excited when they see the students in here, and they just bring an energy and a joy, often in ways only young people can do.”

“To witness our guests engage with these students as they’re going through the meal line, and they’re talking to them, and the students in return talk to our guests like they are worthy of a conversation, it removes the homelessness side of it,” said Mrs. Webb, “they normalize that experience for our guests, in terms of feeling valued in our community, feeling heard in our community.”

Timothy Maines, principal, St. Joseph School, Crescent Springs, said, “we have so many students wanting to help and do things that there’s just not enough space for it, and there’s not enough space at the shelter … the students and the parents, just the whole community, want to give back and show that Christ-like attitude of helping others.”

“I feel nothing but pride for these students,” said Mr. Maines. “I am just so incredibly proud of all the accomplishments they have, and everything they do.”

Mrs. Pavia shares a message with all the students who volunteer through the Cavaliers Care Ministry, telling them, “God gives you gifts, not to store them up in your school or your church or your house, but to be the vessel” that pours them out.