Introducing Sam Hardwick, DC Service Corps Development Associate

Editor’s note: Learn about DC Service Corps participant Sam Hardwick’s background and his hopes for this service year.

Sam Hardwick, the new DC Service Corps Development Associate, will be helping with donations and data management and growing in his faith during his service year with FMS. Sam, one of four brothers, was born in the suburbs of Philadelphia and attended high school in Worcester, Massachusetts. His family now lives in Edgewater, Maryland, but Sam has retained his allegiance to Philadelphia sports teams such as the Eagles and the Phillies.

Sam’s degree in quantitative economics from Providence College in Rhode Island makes him a natural for database manager, but he was led to serve at FMS through the Catholic Volunteer Network (CVN) and a rosary.

“My father had given me this rosary at some point, and when I decided to look into why it had seven decades I discovered it was a Franciscan crown rosary,” he recalls. “The listing on CVN reminded me of the rosary and seemed like a perfect combination of service in an office setting and direct service once a week.” Sam will be serving at A Wider Circle in Silver Spring, where he will be assisting families who come into the center seeking furniture.

Helping at a charity providing furniture recalls a formative experience Sam had while in college. He worked for My Brother’s Keeper, a Christian organization delivering furnishings to people who had lost their belongings to fire, eviction, or other circumstances around Fall River, MA. “I got to hear people’s stories and learned that there were all sorts of reasons why they might need help,” Sam says. “It’s a terrible feeling not to have furniture, so I thought of us as not just providing a table, but a place to gather.”

Some of Sam’s interests include playing and watching football and basketball and reading series like Harry Potter, the Da Vinci Code, and Pendragon. He has a special affinity for superheroes–Marvel, preferably, though his favorite character is a DC Comics hero, Batman.

“I like that Batman’s not that different–his superpower is that he’s incorruptible,” Sam says.

One of his favorite saints is St. Thomas Aquinas, in part due to his Dominican education at Providence College. St. Ignatius Loyola also appeals to Sam because of his practice of the Examen and using the imagination in prayer.

Sam is excited about living out his faith through his work at FMS. He’s already enjoyed getting to know the new missioners through the team-building exercises at Terrapin Adventures last week. We look forward to more learning and fun with Sam as a member of the FMS office team.