Youth mission team helps out in Kansas

The Youth mission team of St. Catherine of Siena Church in West Dundee recently spent the week of July 23-29 in Kansas City, Kan., volunteering their services to help those in need throughout the area.

The team comprised of 30 teens and seven adult chaperones helped fill a need at local food pantries, day care centers, a pregnancy center, residential homes and churches.

Their wide range of volunteer work included: painting the interior and exterior of homes, cleaning overgrown gardens, reading with children to help them increase their reading scores; cleaning up and stocking shelves with baby items for young mothers in need at a local pregnancy center.

The St. Catherine of Siena youth mission team, which has supported volunteering endeavors for the past seven years, worked through the Catholic Heart Work Camp organization, to serve the Kansas City community joining more than 300 teens from neighboring states.

After a hard day’s work, the teens gathered together for evening programs to strengthen their faith. They attended daily Mass, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and reconciliation, prayed the Rosary, participated in team building activities, and enjoyed music, song and dance to make it a fun and faith-filled experience of a lifetime.

Members of the team noted they could really “feel” a spiritual uplift as they worked each day to help others. The Rev. Michael Lavan, parochial administrator of St. Catherine of Siena Church, praised the teens and their families for “living their faith through their generosity and sacrifice in helping others.”

The youth mission team members who volunteered in Kansas City were: Molly Ahern, Ryan Alvaro, Claire Blume, Hannah Bollman, Max Bollman, Kyle Bowen, Sarah Bowen, Christa Costello, Austin Davis, Hannah Davis, Mitch Ennis, Kathleen Fahy, Kirk Hanselmann, Trent Hanselmann, Caroline Hutton, Dan Jaskowiak, Mary Jaskowiak, Carrie Johnsen, Sean Kelly, Kelli Krueger, Alex Lobo, Patrick Mueller, Ali Sanders, Austin Scarnegie, Chelsea Scarnegie, Taylor Shepard, Devon West, Emily Wirkus, Kate Wirkus and Ian Walsh.

The project team chaperones were David Kelly, Bill Blume, Bill and Cheryl Bowen, Joe Sakowski, Shirley Sanders and Susan Harkin.

The St. Catherine of Siena Church youth mission yeam is open to all high school students in the parish, from freshmen to graduated seniors.

St. Catherine of Siena Church, which is in the midst of celebrating its Jubilee Year, is at 845 W. Main St. in West Dundee. For more information, call the parish office at (847) 426-2217.