< see
picture-page links below >
< Click on the group picture above to enlarge
>
Youths attending:
Kristie, Abby, Susie, Aaron, Matt,
Mallory, Ally, Chelsea, Dan, Leanna, Maggy, Molly, Stephanie, Chris, Andy,
Joe, Sarah, Zach, Amanda, Chris, Darin, Jamie.
Adults attending:
Karen Bender, Phil Bertoni, Nancy Davis (Youth Group Leader), Carol
Gustafsen, Rosemarie Murphy, Joe Scanavino.
The Mt. Pulaski St. Thomas/Elkhart St. Patrick's Youth Group (22
students - 6 adults) attended the 2004 New Orleans
Catholic Heart Work Camp Mission - 350 students with about 70 adults,
sleeping on the floors of a Catholic Elementary School. The youth groups
traveled in from various states:
Illinois
,
Indiana
,
Wisconsin
,
Missouri
,
Oklahoma
,
Louisiana
and
Florida
. Each adult was in charge of 4-5
students from other high school youth groups. The week's projects ranged from,
painting (indoor and outdoor), house cleaning, scrubbing, weeding, mowing,
tree trimming, trash removal, dry wall repair & replacement, plumbing
repairs, toilet installation, food service duties, summer school with young
children, etc. Most of the resident recipients were older or disabled people
on fixed incomes. Several groups went to a YMCA for two days, painting
apartments...ceilings, walls, kitchens, and bathrooms. An
excellent job was done and it certainly brightened things up...these
apartments probably hadn't been painted for 30 or more years. Several of
the recipients attended the final evening program to give testimonials for the
wonderful volunteer work done by the kids and their adult leaders.
At lunch, each work group would sit somewhere in the shade and eat
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chips, and cookies along with water and/or
sodas. In these work groups, one student was designated as the
prayer leader. This prayer leader would lead their group in prayer at
the beginning of the day's work in the morning as well as at lunch.
Also, probing questions about service, faith, relationships to our family and
friends were discussed. Work ended around
3 pm
each day.
Then, all boarded the buses to the showers (many of the groups went to
the Tulane University Campus sports center which has a state-of-the-art sports
complex). After quick showers, it
was back on the buses for the long return over the
Lake
Ponchatraine
Bridge
(24 mi long...longest in
USA
) to the school for supper.
Each evening, there was a well-organized program with lots of sharing,
testimonials, student reporting of the day’s work, photos of the day’s
work, motivational talks, student and adult skits, singing, videos, and music.
The local radio and TV stations covered the event on their morning
& evening news.
On the last full day (Fri), all youth groups had a free day. The
St. Thomas
/ St. Patrick's youth group arranged for a
long bus tour of
New Orleans, as well as a shorter walking tour
in the French Quarter. During the off-tour time, most of the boys opted
to walk the famous
Bourbon Street, where they enjoyed seeing and
hearing and smelling the surroundings...lots of Jazz, a parade with beads
flying all over the place, numerous vendors and flea-market type stores.
They even ventured into a restaurant and proceeded to dive into a Jambalaya
dish. Next morning, It was a half day at the beach (
Long Beach
) and then back on the road for the return
back to
Central Il
. The youth group stayed over at Batesville, Ms., then returned
Sunday evening around
6 pm
.
The youths and yes, the
adults, got a whole lot of good heart-filled feelings and mind-filled thoughts
and memories out of helping the poor and disabled for four days, giving their
all under very hot and humid conditions and not with the best living and
eating facilities.
There are other such missions going
on in many of the other states this summer as well. The following
address URL is web site for more information on this particular type of
mission work, which has been going on for the past 10 years: Catholic
Heart Work Camp.
