Eleven high school aged youth were accompanied by 3 adult chaperones on a mission of service to the area in and around Cincinnati, Ohio. The group traveled in two vans, leaving Sunday, July 16 and returning Saturday, July 22. The worksites were coordinated by the Franciscans for the Poor and the group was housed in a building built as a convent (now called the Tau House) for St. Clement Catholic parish in St. Bernard, Ohio. We shared the house with another high school group from Georgia. Service, simplicity and spirituality are the words this experience is organized around.
Monday saw the group work at Rose Garden Home Mission. This place was initially set up to serve expectant mothers and help them to choose life over abortion. It quickly grew into a food and clothing donation and distribution center. “God is good” was said by the sisters serving there every time a truck bringing donated food arrived. Our group unloaded trucks, sorted good produce from bad, repackaged food for distribution, and moved produce into the walk-in storage cooler.
Tuesday the group served at the Ronald McDonald House. This place is a hotel of sorts adjacent to children’s hospital provided for families to stay with their children undergoing long term medical care. There is no cost to those staying at this facility. Our group was charged with removing established bushes and other landscaping so that the planting areas could be re-purposed. The future plan for those garden beds will be to allow guests to do some planting of their own… flowers, vegetables, etc.
Msgr. Jerry came to visit the group Tuesday afternoon. He joined us in the park for swimming and basketball. He and two others from our group challenged some locals to 3 on 3 basketball. Msgr. has a respectable long jump shot! And he did not want to quit!
Tuesday evening we visited a community of retired sisters and toured their beautiful chapel complete with an extensive reliquary. Upon returning to St. Clement’s Church we had adoration and reconciliation together, hosted by Fr. Fred Link and two other priests.
Thursday saw half the group at Rose Garden and the other half at UpSpring camp’s field trip. UpSring is set up to