Veronica McCarthy’s favorite childhood memories all seem to revolve around community service, and the Red Bank Catholic senior has carried that spirit of serving others to all aspects of her life. The Catholic University of America has recognized her dedication to service by awarding her the 2013 Most Rev. David M. O’Connell Service Scholarship.
The University awards this four-year, full-tuition scholarship to an entering freshman from the Diocese of Trenton who demonstrates a record of service and a commitment to service while at Catholic University and beyond.
Service to others is a McCarthy family tradition. Veronica’s face lights up when she talks about how she and her parents spend every Thanksgiving volunteering in the Food Pantry of St. Paul’s Church in Ocean Grove. She also recalls that her “first real experience with service” was when she was in the first grade. In the weeks following 9/11, her parents set up an impromptu collection of supplies in their front yard and Veronica joined the effort by coordinating her soccer team to donate items. She saw the piles of supplies grow into truckloads, which they then shipped to Ground Zero. Veronica recognizes the life lesson bestowed upon her: “I have been blessed with parents who taught me to always put others first.”
Veronica continued her dedication to service during her four years at Red Bank Catholic High School. She helped plan volunteer events for the RBC Life Club, which supports the agencies that serve the poor, sick and elderly and works with the RBC Making Wishes Come True Club, a supporter of the NJ Chapter of the Make-a-Wish Foundation. In addition to working part-time, she volunteered as a CCD instructor for her parish, St. Thomas More in Manalapan, as a softball coach for her town’s recreational league and on the Committee of the Cole Lombardi Supplemental Benefits Trust, which raised more than $30,000 to help a family with excess medical bills for their seriously ill son.
Veronica looks forward to studying international relations and political science at Catholic University, while continuing to do community service there and after graduation as well. Those who spend some time with Veronica will see that her volunteering experiences have broadened her world and brought her much joy.
