Teens make a difference

MENDHAM  For the past 12 years, St. Joseph Parish here has sent a crew of teenagers to eastern Kentucky to help working poor families with home repair and renovation.

This year’s team was the largest yet: 75 high school students and 24 adult chaperones were signed up for a week’s work when the pandemic shutdowns made the trip impossible, especially maintaining social distancing during a 10-hour van ride.

The annual trip is a highlight of the parish’s active youth ministry program and the community members were adamant that the experience was not be missed. “There’s something about breaking a sweat to help others in an atmosphere of prayer that is greater than the sum of its parts,” said Mark Tosso, parish youth minister. “These mission trip experiences have been transformative to hundreds of young people over the years — our alumni in college and the workforce tell me all the time how it has impacted their priorities, career choices, giving priorities and their faith.”

The group looked for outdoor projects that could be done in small groups according to whatever social-distancing guidelines would be in place by late July. The group hit on two promising avenues: Mendham Area Senior Housing (MASH) and Mendham Borough parks (Scott Farm and Mountain Valley Park).

At the invitation of MASH board members, the crew was able to serve limited-income seniors. Braving temperatures in the 90s, the teens and adult volunteers accomplished a great deal in six days of work.

At MASH the volunteers tackled a variety of projects: pruned back trees and bushes to allow more sunlight to enter the residents’ apartments; dug hundreds of feet of drainage trenches and laid piping to address and drain pooling water; laid concrete pads for six benches around the complex, and built a bed for a new shed.

With the support of the Mendham Borough Council, the volunteers were able to tackle improvements in two parks in town. At Scott Farm, the volunteers took on some environmental projects in the park, a former cattle farm. There, they built a 150-foot fence along Mountainside Road in the same design of the site’s original fence, demolished and rebuilt the runs of two chicken coops so a potential future “Chicken Club” can make use of the facility and dug and planted a rain garden to address drainage issues. At Mountain Valley Park, the volunteers repaired and expanded the roof on a trailhead kiosk.

Every day began with temperature checks, safety and mask briefings, outdoor Mass, breakfast sandwiches and a hike to the worksites.

Caroline Githens, a senior at West Morris Mendham High School and a leader in St. Joseph’s Youth Ministry, was instrumental in the planning and service work. “I love helping in my community and with my church for a good cause, so contributing to the mission in my own town is a must for me,” she said. “Having the opportunity to help my town and bring people together is something that I’ll always take up on.

“Although this experience is different than the Appalachia experience in Kentucky, the message and meaning behind this mission is the same. I loved the experience because it not only brought us together after a long quarantine, but it also is putting use to the money we raised for the trip and got to help out in our own community. I had a lot of fun and I know others did too,” she said.

Msgr. Joseph Anginoli, St. Joseph’s pastor, said, “I would like to thank Mark Tosso, our youth minister, Father Andrew Burns, and all the adult chaperones who assisted our young people in their week of ministry to the people of MASH and to the Scott Farm. Jesus gave us two ‘great’ commandments — love God above all and love your neighbor as we love ourselves. These commandments were made real this past week when our young people decided to volunteer to help others in our community. The role of service is paramount to discipleship. It is in service that we make our faith real to those around us. Our young people are the future of our Church and world. The world needs faith, needs service, needs people who dare to be different by imitating our Lord’s life of service, love, compassion.”