A Vacation of Volunteering

Volunteers spruce up buildings at
Catholic Charities agencies

PATERSON  While some teens are traveling with family on vacation to the beach or Disney World, others have chosen to use their vacation to volunteer their time to help agencies of diocesan Catholic Charities.

From July 13 to 31, more than 200 teens and young adult volunteers are spending time serving three agencies of diocesan Catholic Charities — Straight and Narrow, Catholic Family and Community Services, and Department for Persons with Disabilities during these hot summer days.

During the first week of visiting volunteers, 22 young people and adult chaperones gave a major facelift to the offices of Straight and Narrow’s Intoxicated Driver Resource Center (IDRC) of Passaic County in Passaic near St. Mary Church on First Street. The resource center, housed in the former convent at St. Mary’s, provides classes and 12- hour and 24-hour programs for persons convicted of an alcohol related traffic offenses.

For these three weeks, Linda Ward, a consultant at Straight and Narrow, has been coordinating the volunteers. “These 120 dedicated students are giving back to our community. This first wave of young people who have been helping transform the Medical Day Center, IDRC and the Detox Center by completing a deep clean, painting preparation and then completing a much thorough painting of the facilities, which has not been done in several years. They will also be tidying up the gardens at our main offices and working in our two childcare centers.”

With no air-conditioner on the third floor of the IDRC, some teens painted in the sweltering heat but didn’t seemed to be phased by it at all. One of the volunteers painting was 16-year-old Sean Bannah of St. John the Cross Parish in Middleburg, Conn. He said he was enjoying his volunteer experience at the agency and recalled a Mass celebrated Tuesday at Straight and Narrow’s 508 Straight Street in Paterson. “We got to hear from some of the clients at the residential centers and we got a more real perspective about addiction and what really goes on. For some of the teens, who have sheltered lives, it was eye-opening to hear about it.”

At Straight and Narrow’s La Vida II Childcare Center on Jackson Street here, teen-agers have been spending time with the children in the summer program by playing with them and assisting in the classrooms.

Charlotte Flury, 14, from Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Baltimore, said, “I am happy to help. I know I have so much to be thankful in my life so I want to give back. These kids are so cute.”

Imelda Diaz, director of La Vida 2, said, “These volunteers are such a blessing. For them, there is no task big or small. Our students have been very, very excited about having them around. They connect so well together. The volunteers must have younger brothers and sisters at home.”

The volunteers have been staying at the Newark Archdiocesan Youth Retreat Center in Kearney. This week, the volunteers are part of Young Neighbors in Action coordinated by the Center for Ministry Development. In the upcoming weeks, diocesan Catholic Charities agencies will welcome a group of volunteers coordinated by the Youth and Young Adult Ministry from the Newark Archdiocese and Catholic Heart Workcamp.

Brian Caldwell, associate director of the Newark Archdiocese youth and young adult office, said, “We run several trips every summer for high school teens to spend a week in Catholic service emergent experiences to learn about serving others one-on-one.”

“Catholic Charities provides many of the same services that other nonprofits provide but we like to say we bring value added to what we do making us stand out in a good way. One of the values added Catholic Charities brings is the benefit of tens of thousands of volunteer hours each year,” said Joe Duffy, president of diocesan Catholic Charities and executive director of Straight and Narrow. “We have almost 1,000 volunteers annually across our many programs. Some come throughout the year. Some come once a year and everything in between. Catholic Charities agencies will benefit from the approximately 200 volunteers, high school and college-age young men and women from all over the country working a full workday for a week. Over three weeks, we will see dozens of bedrooms, lounges, hallways, stairwells painted; children entertained; grounds spruced up, and more so that some of our more tired and worn facilities look bright and cheery and more welcoming. The spirit of volunteerism is alive, well and growing in our Catholic Church. Amen to that.”