As part of New Student Orientation, incoming Life Pacific University students served at six locations across San Dimas and the surrounding community, putting LPU’s commitment to faith and servant leadership into action.

Before Life Pacific University’s newest Warriors began their first full week of classes, they spent part of their first weekend doing something central to the LPU experience: serving others.

On Saturday, August 29, incoming students participated in City Serve as part of Fall 2026 New Student Orientation, spreading out across San Dimas, Glendora, and Covina for hands-on service projects with six community partners.

Students served at Sonrise Ruddock, Sonrise Gladstone, San Dimas Little League, ONE&ALL, San Dimas Heroes, and NewSong Church San Dimas.

For students still learning names, finding their way around campus, and adjusting to a new season of life, City Serve offered an early opportunity to step outside themselves and serve alongside their new LPU community.

Starting The LPU Experience With Service

City Serve is intentionally placed within New Student Orientation because service is not meant to be something students encounter only after they have settled into college life. It is part of what it means to be a Warrior from the beginning.

“City Serve brings me so much joy because, from the very beginning of their time at LPU, our students get to live out the values we hold as a university, particularly community engagement and authentic hospitality,” said Kristina Stover, Director of Career and Global Engagement. “We want our presence here to be a blessing to San Dimas and the surrounding communities.”

Service is one of Life Pacific University’s core values, reflecting a commitment to serving God, one another, and those beyond the University.

For Stover, City Serve is also a practical expression of what Christian service looks like beyond campus.

“As followers of Jesus, we’re called to be salt and light, and I love that our students get to put that into practice by coming alongside local organizations, serving where there is a need, and helping advance the good work already underway in our community.”

That emphasis connects directly with LPU’s mission to develop students into leaders prepared to serve God in the Church, the workplace, and the world.

Making A Difference Close To Home

Across the six locations, students helped community organizations accomplish projects while building relationships with the people who serve San Dimas and neighboring cities throughout the year.

The impact was immediately felt by LPU’s community partners.

“Thank you so much for sending a group out to SDLL,” said Christine D’Arcy of San Dimas Little League. “They were so helpful, and we got a lot accomplished!”

At Sonrise Christian, the response was equally enthusiastic.

“The teams were such a huge blessing!” said Tommy Guzman of Sonrise Christian.

Students serving with San Dimas Heroes helped refurbish memorial pavers at the San Dimas Heroes Monument, completing the work the organization had hoped to accomplish that morning.

“We are so amazed and blessed by these students taking the time to come help us refurbish the memorial pavers,” San Dimas Heroes shared. “They had such great attitudes and we got all the pavers done that we wanted to! We are so grateful!”

For LPU, those responses are especially meaningful because they reflect something community partners have consistently shared about Warrior students.

“Year after year, we hear from our community partners how impressed they are with our students: their attitudes, initiative, and willingness to serve,” Stover said.

Building Community While Serving Community

City Serve also gives incoming students something they need during their first days at LPU: time together.

Students who may have met only a day earlier suddenly find themselves working alongside one another toward a shared purpose. The experience creates space for conversations and relationships to begin naturally while students serve with classmates, student leaders, faculty, and staff.

That combination of community and service is an important part of the LPU experience.

New Student Orientation is designed not only to prepare students for classes, but to introduce them to what it means to belong to the Warrior community. Throughout the weekend, students met faculty, learned about campus resources, worshiped and prayed together during the Dedication Service, built new friendships, and participated in traditions that will shape their years at LPU.

City Serve turns that sense of belonging outward.

Being part of the LPU community also means recognizing that the University is part of a larger community and has an opportunity to contribute to it.

Formed to Serve

As the 2026–27 academic year begins, LPU’s newest students are entering classrooms, residence halls, athletic teams, churches, workplaces, and friendships where they will continue to learn what servant leadership looks like in everyday life.

City Serve offered an early reminder that their education at Life Pacific University is ultimately about more than what they accomplish for themselves.

It is about who they become and how God uses their gifts for others.

From their first weekend as Warriors, the invitation is clear: learn, grow, lead, and serve.