“The students leave South County Outreach with a
better idea of the value of hard work.”
-Kevin Clements, JSerra swim coach
Kevin Clements and his varsity swim team at JSerra Catholic High School are making waves at South County Outreach. Every year, he brings in his team of 70 to help clean and organize South County Outreach. He and his team understand the hard work they get to do, especially knowing how many local Orange County families they’re helping in our fight against hunger and homelessness.
Can you give us your background?
KEVIN: I grew up in Orange County, then went on to swim at Auburn University and after graduation, swam professionally for a couple years. I began coaching in 2005 at the collegiate level. Ultimately, I coached at the University of Southern California from 2010-2014, and then I came back to Orange County to JSerra. Being at Jserra has been a great decision for myself and my family, and being able to surround ourselves with the Catholic faith made switching from the collegiate to high school level an easy decision. At JSerra, I’m the head swimming coach, as well as the Aquatics Director and Assistant Athletics Director.
How did you get involved with South County Outreach?
KEVIN: We have a parent on the team who had done some volunteer work with South County Outreach through his church. He told me about your work and I reached out, so now my team and I have been volunteering with South County Outreach for about two years. I really enjoy it. I get great feedback from the kids; they love it. We get a fantastic turn-out whenever we come help out. These students are given so many global opportunities to give back through JSerra, like building aqueducts and wells in Peru, so this is a really local avenue of giving back we pursue as much as we can.
What makes South County Outreach different?
KEVIN: Initially, we needed to fulfil a community service requirement. But South County Outreach became so much more than that — it was so different than what we’ve done previously, because we’re working behind the scenes and we loved that it was a mission-fit with JSerra. It’s faith-based, it’s giving back, it’s a project we were working on that was true and honest. We do good work with South County Outreach, and that’s why the students love it so much. I have kids come up to me during off-season months asking when we’re going back every year.
What do you like the most about volunteering with South County Outreach?
KEVIN: The thing I like about it the most is the manual work we have the kids do when they come to volunteer. Especially in 2018, when everything is at the push of a finger tip, and gratification comes so easily, it’s important for them to see the value in working towards something and giving back. They leave South County Outreach with a better idea of the value of hard work.
If you would like to get your team or group involved with South County Outreach, email our Volunteer Manager Amy Swanson at aswanson@sco-oc.org or call 949.380.8144 ext. 217 to get started.
