Whilst the movement grew to address community needs in the recovery period following the Christchurch earthquakes, the SVA has never been a solely disaster response focused organisation.

The movement operates under an aim to make volunteering and service an intrinsic part of the student experience, and show all New Zealanders the power they have to drive the change they wish to see in their communities.

[2] The evidence of this ethos can be seen in the club culture of the UC Student Volunteer Army, and in initiatives such as the SVA School Kit[3] and the Serve for New Zealand[4] campaign.

This initiative started in 2017 and is targeted primarily at students new to the university and the city, with the goal to provide a fun, fulfillling, and beneficial volunteering experience reflective of the club's ethos.

Approximately 800 university students attended the event, where they worked to rebuild over 2 km of track around the reserve, remove an earthquake damaged seawall from the estuary, conduct invasive species control and restore 8 beach accessways in the wider community.

[12] In the days immediately following the 4 September Christchurch earthquake, the campus of the University of Canterbury was closed to enable the buildings to be checked for structural safety, 21-year-old Sam Johnson started a Facebook event called the "Student Base for Earthquake Clean up"[13] and invited friends to join with him in assisting local residents with non-lifesaving tasks, in particularly cleaning up soil liquefaction residue on the streets and gardens of the city.

Street teams managed volunteer engagement for various organizations including multiple government departments, Civil Defence, and Christchurch City Council.

[citation needed] The objective was to increase the efficiency in agencies providing a service; for example delivering chemical toilets and information pamphlets, laying sandbags, staffing data entry and manning call centres.

With the help of Geoop.com and Snap Internet, Jonas Bergler and his team designed a mobile management system for the Squadrons whereby residents could register their need for assistance via a free call number, text message service or website.

[17] Each job was examined and prioritised by the call centre, manned by the Musical Theatre Society.In delegating team leaders to guide small crews to these sites the SVA, together with the Federated Farmers Farmy Army, helped clear over 360,000 tonnes of silt and clocked up over 80,000 volunteer working hours.

[20] The team of organisers received high praise from officials in New Zealand and this resulted in them speaking with Prince William about the potential programmes of volunteering involving young people.

Global DIRT asked Sam Johnson and Jason Pemberton of the SVA, to help organize Japanese university students develop a similar volunteer program.

[22] Additionally, Global DIRT asked Pemberton and fellow SVA member Jackson Rowland to help New York City recover after Hurricane Sandy.