Why Glen Ellyn woman volunteers in a remote region of the Philippines

When Mary Jane Trinkus first traveled to Bolivia, she went for "selfish" reasons.

That's hardly the first word that comes to mind to describe Trinkus, a nurse who signed up for volunteer work on a mission trip through the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet. And, yet, Trinkus says she was going for the adventure.

"When I got there, my heart just went out to the people we were serving," she said.

That 1996 trip would lead to many more around the globe and a nonprofit group Trinkus now runs out of her Glen Ellyn home. Proceeds from a rummage sale will go toward The Poor Household of God and another Glen Ellyn-based nonprofit that built a medical center in Uganda. The sale will be Saturday, June 11, at Trinkus' parish, St. Petronille.

The roots of her volunteer-run organization go back to a 2005 trip to the Philippines when Trinkus, on a whim, introduced herself to the Oikos sisters. The group of women, all dressed in modest brown, had been playing music at a Mass that Trinkus attended in a hospital.

"I was so impressed with them because they didn't just serve the poor - they lived as one with the poor," Trinkus said.

She's seen that solidarity with the poor over the two to three weeks she stays with the religious community every October in a remote area in the Philippines' Eastern Samar province. Funds raised by the Poor Household of God support a number of programs established by the sisters that, among other things, provide housing for orphaned and abandoned children and cover the costs of tuition and school supplies for students.

They also run a pharmacy and a piglet breeding program that trains families to become pig farmers.

"What they strive to do is support them so they can be sustainable and break the cycle of poverty," said Trinkus, who will be visiting the region again with the diocese's mission team in February.

The fundraiser at St. Petronille will benefit the sisters' latest goal: building about 40 homes for families - each costing roughly $2,500, Trinkus said.

She initially questioned how they would be able to get a small village off the ground. But their plans are beginning to take shape after about 3.95 acres of land was donated to the local diocese two years ago and set aside for the project. They also envision a chapel, community garden and an evacuation center (the area is hard-hit by typhoons).

Trinkus lights up talking about that "dream," and her friend, Karen O'Brien, sees it too.

"Every time I hear you talk about it, you glow," said O'Brien, a clinical social worker and St. Petronille Christian service director who's helping organize the rummage sale. "You get all excited and you glow."

Trinkus and the Oikos sisters have quickly formed a partnership, a "mutual friendship" that's taught her about faith and trust.

Six years ago, Trinkus was diagnosed with Stage 4 kidney cancer. She worried about what would happen to her family, her husband and the Poor Household of God if she didn't survive.

"Who's going to take this over?" Trinkus asked.

Trinkus got treatment and made a promise to God.

"If you do heal me, I will devote the rest of my life to the work you call me to do," Trinkus vowed. "And I feel this is the work he's called me to do."

She now has no trace of the disease and continues to stick to that pledge. For four weeks starting in mid-July, Trinkus again will host one of the Oikos sisters as they seek donations from parishes across the diocese and in other fundraisers.

"My life is full, but this - I just feel very rich and very blessed to have met them and to be a part of their lives," she said. "It's not work for me."

If you go

What: "Declutter for Charity" rummage sale, benefiting two nonprofit groups approved by the Diocese of Joliet

Where: Parish Life Center at St. Petronille Church, 420 Glenwood Ave., Glen Ellyn

When: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, June 11

What's for sale: Donated items include clothing, small appliances, DVDs, toys, books, cookware, sporting goods, lamps, furniture and curtains. Any items not sold will be donated to the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

Info: obrienk@stpetschurch.org