(Christopher Pia '15 and Matthew Ko '15 at the "Warm Coats and Warm Hearts" Coat Drive)
Faces of Xavier: Matthew Ko '15
Matthew Ko ’15 is a Xavier senior from the Upper West Side of Manhattan. For the last few years, Matthew has volunteered for Broadway Kids Care, an organization that brings together young Broadway actors and friends to perform meaningful community service and engage in philanthropic outreach throughout New York City. Recently, Matthew played a fundamental role in assisting Good Morning America’s “Warm Coats and Warm Hearts” coat drive held in conjunction with the Burlington Coat Factory. For his work, Matthew was featured live on Good Morning America. In addition to his work with Broadway Kids Care, Matthew remains busy with preparing his college applications, maintaining his grades, and enjoying what free time he has with the Student Events Committee and the Film Club. We had the opportunity to sit down with Matthew to discuss his work with Broadway Kids Care, his time at Xavier, and his views on the importance of service.
Can you talk about how you got involved with Broadway Kids Care?
My godparents founded Broadway Kids Care, and it's been something that my family has been involved with since the beginning. Though I don’t perform on Broadway, helping out with the program is something that I've really enjoyed doing and is a big part of my life.
How did you get involved with helping out with Good Morning America’s “Warm Coats and Warm Hearts” coat drive?
Every year, Good Morning America hosts a coat drive to help people in need throughout the country. Broadway Kids Care is one of the many groups that assists with performing outreach and collecting clothing from the public for the coat drive. For the last couple of weeks, myself and other members of Broadway Kids Care, including fellow Xavier senior Christopher Pia ’15, would go to Manhattan’s Theater District, advertise the program, and collect coats from passers-by. We collected over 300 coats! I thought we did a great job to benefit an important cause, especially considering how cold it can get in the winter.
What other service have you done through Broadway Kids Care?
It usually varies depending on the time of year. Most recently, we helped out with UNICEF’s snowflake lighting ceremony to commemorate the program’s fundraising efforts throughout the world. We sang carols and had a great time. In the past, we’ve held knitting drives for local shelters and Halloween drives for children in need.
For your efforts, you were featured on Good Morning America with other members of Broadway Kids Care. What was the experience like?
I had never been on live TV before, so it was very exciting. We were featured in a three-minute segment with other organizations who helped out with the coat drive. I was standing next to Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts and the Muppets, all of whom I was lucky to be with. It was cool to be recognized nationally for the service we did (the broadcast can be viewed here. Look for Matthew with the Xavier sweater at approx. the two-minute mark).
Service is clearly an important part of your life. Furthermore, part of Xavier’s mission statement is to teach students “to act justly in the service of others.” What does service mean to you?
Service is a large part of my life. Xavier has always taught us to be men and women for others. It's great to get together with friends and family to benefit the common good, and I'm glad to carry out that ideal through my time at Xavier and service with Broadway Kids Care.
What are your plans for next year?
I'm currently busy managing both my schoolwork and my college applications. I would like to go to either California or Washington, D.C. for school. Wherever I go, I know that I’ll continue to live out the lessons I’ve learned as a Xavier student. As I learned on my Kairos retreat last year, it’s important to realize how much people care for you and how important it is, in turn, to care for others, and I'm excited to live out this message wherever I go.