What is First Serve?
Since 2012, First Serve continues to be an annual day of service, held during the second
Sunday in September led by First Congregational Church of Hudson. Over 500 First Serve
volunteers work on projects located at partner organizations and residential sites in the North
Hill Community of Akron. Projects are designed to support the work these organizations are
doing in the community while at the same time providing opportunities for volunteers to be
immersed in the neighborhood. First Serve’s year-round presence in North Hill provides
volunteers the opportunity to continue their relationship with our partner organizations.
The North Hill Community
The North Hill Community is located north of downtown Akron. The neighborhood developed
rapidly in the 1910s and 1920s, and became Akron’s preeminent immigrant neighborhood,
home to a large Italian and Polish population. Today, it is once again Akron’s preeminent
immigrant neighborhood.
Our Partner Organizations
Akron Coop Farms
AMHA
Blessed Trinity
Findley CLC
Forest Hill CLC
Friends of Elizabeth Park
Grace House
Harris-Jackson CLC
North H.S.
North Hill Community House
Patterson Park Community Center
Rooted in Christ Community Church
Saint Anthony
Trinity Clothing Ministry
Trinity UCC
United Way Family Resource Center
Our Faith Partners
Bath Church
Christ Church Episcopal- Hudson
Faith Lutheran- Fairlawn
Hudson United Methodist Church
Islamic Society of Akron & Kent
Peninsula United Methodist
Remedy Church
Rooted in Christ Community Church
St. Hilary Parish
Tallmadge UCC
Temple Beth Shalom
Summer Intern Program
Our summer intern program continues to be
another boundary-breaking opportunity for
suburban and North High School students
to meet and engage with one another in
service to the community.
We see the fruit of this in so many ways.
Through the intern program, even students
within North High School learn to cross
cultural barriers and live into friendships
that invite them to see “others” as trusted
colleagues. We see, again and again, how
bringing these students
together contributes to their mutual
flourishing. For eight weeks, interns work
with our community partners on projects
that benefit those
organizations and exposes interns to many
aspects of the North Hill neighborhoods.
First Serve is very grateful for The Akron
Community Foundation’s support of this
program!