Dave Donaldson

“We came here 13 years ago and we thought we had a plan, but who could have guessed the plan would have turned out like this?” President Brian Mueller said of GCU CityServe, the University’s most overarching, ambitious, sweeping initiative in the scope of its missional work in the community. This spring, GCU became the first university partner for CityServe, and in the fall it started receiving in-kind goods from national retailers at the campus’ 35,000-square-foot capacity warehouse. Those household goods, everything from furniture to diapers and outdoor equipment, have made it to those in need, such as Congo refugee Salima Kalonji in Buckeye and to residents of the San Carlos Apache Reservation in Globe.

At an open house Thursday, GCU officially debuted its CityServe HUB, a 35,000 square-foot warehouse that will be the distribution site for household goods from major retailers such as Amazon and Costco. Those in-kind goods — everything from small appliances to furniture, printers and diapers, to name a few — will be disbursed to community partners that will put them in the hands of families in need. “To be able to do it on a college campus so you can mentor college kids on getting into this mindset, this worldview of helping the less fortunate? It’s fantastic. Praise God,” said Barry Meguiar of Meguiar Wax, a major CityServe supporter..

When GCU President Brian Mueller looks at the campus and how it has evolved over the past 13 years, he knows all those things could not be accomplished without God’s mercy and grace. At a packed Chapel on Monday – the first of the academic year – Mueller asked this important question: What can we do that will get Jesus’ attention? How can we do as Jesus did and exemplify mercy and grace, not just to each other but to the community we serve outside of campus?

  (May 10, 2021) – Grand Canyon University and CityServe are partnering to create a major distribution HUB on the GCU campus that will provide thousands of household goods to needy families in Arizona. GCU is creating a 35,000-square-foot warehouse on campus that will house products such as clothing, heaters, fans, blankets, furniture, mattresses, food boxes and other essential items provided by major retailers through CityServe. The GCU HUB – powered mostly by volunteers – will provide the items to PODs, or points of distribution, such as churches, schools and social service organizations that will then distribute them directly to families in need. GCU has already identified 40 community partners that will serve as PODs and plans to connect to more than 100 eventually. “This partnership with CityServe is a natural extension of our broader outreach efforts and our five-point plan to transform our surrounding community,” GCU President Brian Mueller said. “CityServe is making a significant impact across the country by empowering local churches and service organizations to live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help those in need. Their mission aligns perfectly with GCU and we look forward to not only partnering with them to provide essential household […]

COVID-19 may have disrupted so many things — everything, really — but it couldn’t stop the GCU community from finding ways to help its neighbors. From establishing new partnerships, such as with CityServe International in the USDA Farmers to Families food box distributions, to strengthening existing partnerships with such groups as Chicanos por la Causa, GCU has become an even more integral part of the community. “It’s a more intimate relationship that we have with the community,” said Community Relations Manager Debbie Accomazzo. “We’re all coming from the same place of vulnerability, and, because of that, we all have the same risks and many of the same things at stake. So I think we’re sharing that vulnerability in new ways.” Reprinted from the February 2021 issue of GCU Magazine.

Students volunteers had the chance to roll up their sleeves Wednesday for the USDA Farmers to Families Food Box Program distribution event at the 27th Avenue complex, an event hosted by GCU in partnership with CityServe International. About 165 students loaded and delivered more than 1,050 boxes of food prepared by Shamrock Farms, each weighing about 30 pounds and filled with everything from meat to bags of apples and carrots, cheese, milk and more. The boxes went to more than 20 community service organizations and churches, which then distributed those boxes to families in need. It was just the first event in an even bigger project with CityServe in which the University would be the Arizona distribution hub for products that will go to needy families.