116 Hours of Community Service

Clifton teen’s strong faith leads to Blessed Mother Teresa Award for community service

CLIFTON  Sometimes it seems as if Christina Cramer can barely remember what it’s like to sit in the pews with the congregation during Mass in her home parish of St. Paul’s here. That’s because this Paramus Catholic High School sophomore ends up serving on the altar with the presiding priest almost every time she attends Mass.

The 15-year-old Cramer’s frequent serving at Mass demonstrates not only her firm commitment to her faith, but also her passion for serving other people — and in the process, her becoming a role model for other young Catholics. She has participated in a broad array of outreaches through St. Paul’s, Paramus Catholic, the Knights of Columbus and the City of Clifton. In fact, Cramer in May received Paramus Catholic’s Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta Service Award for performing 116 hours of community service this past school year— far exceeding the required 25 hours for freshmen.

“I like helping people — the youth and the community,” said the humble Cramer, who attended St. Paul School before it closed and was graduated from St. Andrew School, Clifton, before attending Paramus Catholic, where she studies under the Aquinas honors program and was named to the honor roll for all four marking periods as a freshman.

Cramer’s life of service started, when she became an altar server in third grade and she quickly developed a “love of serving God on the altar.” For the past three years, she has been involved in St. Paul’s youth ministry, which acts out the Stations of the Cross and hosts the showing of a religiously themed movie during Lent; provides refreshments after the family Mass on first Sundays; plans activities for kids, such as “Trunk or Treat” at Halloween; and helps out during fundraising dinners for the Rosary Society and the Knights. The young people also collected clothing for an orphanage in Colombia, Cramer said.

Just like last summer, Cramer will volunteer as a staff member of Safety Town for the City of Clifton, which teaches children, pre-k and kindergarten, about bike, pool, traffic and fire safety. She serves as a group leader, bringing the kids around to each activity station. She also redesigned a recruiting brochure for the Knights of Columbus Regina Mundi Council 3969, of which her father, Raymond, is a member. Cramer also joined a team for the Relay for Life, which raises money for cancer research. A few years ago, Raymond Cramer had been successfully treated for throat cancer.

“Christina does not like the attention, but service comes naturally. She is honoring God. It’s her ministry,” said her mother, Susan, who belongs to the Columbiettes and the women’s auxiliary of the American Legion Post 8. With her husband, she also serves an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion at St. Paul’s.

Cramer logged 116 hours for her service requirement at Paramus Catholic by undertaking all of these volunteer efforts during the 2014-15 school year. At a May awards ceremony there, she and a few other select students received the Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta for completing 100 hours or more of community service. The award’s namesake “took to heart the message of Christ to serve the poorest of the poor and did it with great love. It is our hope that students will be inspired each year to go above and beyond the required service, inspired by her loving example,” according to officials at Paramus Catholic.

Paramus Catholic requires students to perform service for 10 percent of their religion grade. Freshman must complete 25 hours; sophomores, 30 hours; juniors and seniors, 40 hours; and Aquinas seniors, 80 hours. Service can be performed as part of Church-related activities, in-school and out-of-school volunteer opportunities and local and community organizations.

Cramer said she finds her love of service, in part, rooted in her Catholic-school education and formation — past and present.

“Practicing my faith in my personal life keeps me strong but to have the opportunity to proudly practice my faith openly and freely alongside other kids, who face the same life challenges, is awesome. God is the center of my life and I never want a limit to be put on that gift,” Cramer recently wrote in an essay as part of a scholarship application. “A Catholic high school education grants me the opportunities to live the words of the Gospel, practice works of mercy and live by the Golden Rule. All this instilled on a daily basis through a Catholic high school education encourages me to strive to do my best with God holding my hand and a loving, faithful family encouraging and supporting me,” she wrote.

An aspiring eye doctor, Cramer also follows in the footsteps of her service-minded parents. Raymond Cramer, a retired Clifton police lieutenant, also had served as a lector at St. Paul’s, belongs to the parish’s finance committee, sits on the Diocesan Review Board and belongs to the American Legion Post 8.

“Christina is a good girl and a smart girl. She is a very respectful person,” said Father Leonardo Jaramillo, St. Paul’s pastor. “I can’t tell you how many times that, when we need something, we can count on her and the entire family. Christina is always willing to help and is very active,” he said.