Youths from two parishes join for one mission trip

Twenty-seven teenagers from Holy Name of Jesus and St. Peter parishes are heading to the Tampa Bay area on a mission trip to help needy migrant families.

PAT LANGFORD | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Posted: 07.02.09

Courtesy Photo
St. Peter youths gather for mission work. They will participate in projects this summer as part of a parish outreach.

JUPITER | Students starting a new school year are often greeted with the familiar question: How did you spend your summer vacation?

When the 2009-2010 sessions get under way in late summer, teenagers from Holy Name of Jesus and St. Peter parishes won’t be talking only about lying on the beach or taking family trips to exotic locations.

“We’re going to be working on renovations for people who need help with their homes,” said Marianne Doughney, youth minister at St. Peter in Jupiter, who is leading teens on a summer mission along with Gina-Marie Dyer, her colleague at Holy Name of Jesus in West Palm Beach.

The group of 27 students – 17 from St. Peter and 10 from Holy Name, ranging in age from 14 to 18 – is heading for the Tampa Bay area on a mission trip to help needy migrant families.

The mission trip is arranged in coordination with TEAMeffort, a Georgia-based nonprofit organization that works with religious organizations, both Catholic and non-Catholic, to hold work camps to help the needy in various parts of the country.

The group left June 28 and will be returning this weekend.

The local group represents a fraction of the total number of workers who will be in the area during the week; the teens from here are joining workers from other churches from across the nation.

“It’s quite extensive,” Doughney said. “The group takes about 270 participants.”

Among the Diocese of Palm Beach group is Jessica Davis, a parishioner at Holy Name, who will be a sophomore at Cardinal Newman High School this coming year.

Before the trip, she told the Florida Catholic that she was looking forward to the mission experience.

“Yes, a lot,” she said. “I’ve always loved helping people.”

TEAMeffort holds camps throughout the summer.

“Most of our focus is construction-based, and we do a lot of home repair and housekeeping-type projects,” said Audra Barrick, a registrar for TEAMeffort.

“But because there are so many variables that go into making assignments – How far did we get the week before? How far are we going to get next week? Who’s coming this next week? Skills, numbers, ages – I don’t really know exactly what they will be doing,” she explained about the work assignments of the local teens headed to Tampa.

Barrick explained that home repair duties include yard work, cleaning, and repairing siding and roofing. Interaction with the local community is also part of the agenda.

“We really are able do whatever’s needed in the community,” said Barrick.

This is the second mission trip for the St. Peter youths. A year ago, the group traveled to Pahokee and St. Mary Parish in the western diocese heavily populated with migrants and laborers.

“We spent three days there, cleaning and painting, landscaping,” Doughney said. “It was interesting. This year, we thought we’d stretch a little and go for a week.”

For Dyer and the Holy Name youths, this trip is something brand new. The group has participated in local functions, but not a long trip.

“It’s the first time for us,” Dyer said. “Last year we stayed local; all summer … our youth group did all our work within the community. This year, I wanted to give our youth group an opportunity to do something a little different.

“And we’re still helping families. We’re still helping the community; we’re just helping a different community.”

Dyer said that the Tampa opportunity came courtesy of Doughney and St. Peter Parish.

“They invited us to go with them, which we’re pretty grateful for because they’re paying for the bus,” explained Dyer.

St. Peter chartered a bus to make the round trip, and transport the group to and from its venue each workday. The young construction workers are staying at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg.

Doughney and her group helped defray the costs with fundraising events throughout the year. They used proceeds from the annual craft show, rummage sale and holiday sale.

“Yep, it does take that long (to prepare),” she said about advance efforts. “Find out who is going, advertise, get together the transportation … shirts, everything that we need,” she added.

The youngsters will be treated to a one-day trip to Busch Gardens in Tampa, after service work is done.

Holy Name’s Jessica was excited and said all the work will be worth it.

“I love to help people and make people smile,” she said.

Return to Diocese of Palm Beach Front Page