SCRANTON – While many teenagers spend their summer vacation sleeping in, hanging out with friends, or simply scrolling through social media, dozens of young Catholics from across the country spent a week rolling up their sleeves and putting their faith into action in northeastern Pennsylvania.
As part of Catholic HEART Workcamp, a national Catholic youth mission program, the young adults traveled to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area July 12-17, volunteering at nearly 30 sites, including schools, parishes, nonprofit organizations, and other outreach ministries.
At Saint Clare/Saint Paul School in Scranton, volunteers painted walls and playground areas, stained door frames, cleaned classrooms, organized school merchandise, and tackled numerous projects at both the primary and main campuses, helping to prepare the school for the upcoming academic year.
“We come here to serve others, but primarily we come here to grow closer to Christ through our service,” Father Matthew Conley, a priest from the Archdiocese of Boston who was serving as the group chaplain, said. Catholic HEART Workcamp fundamentally is an organization that exists to give teenagers an opportunity to serve while being uplifted by Christ Himself. It’s service through Christ.”
For Deacon Timothy Dolan, Director of Social Concerns for the Diocese of New Ulm in Minnesota, the week is about far more than just completing projects.
“Catholic HEART Workcamp is a mission to empower our youth to understand who Christ is in their life, enhance their faith, build relationships with others and be able to see Christ in whoever they meet,” he said. “These projects always seem to be able to build character in the kids and camaraderie.”
For many of the young volunteers, the opportunity to give back was just as meaningful as the work itself.
“I love taking part in Catholic HEART Workcamp. I did it last year and had a lot of fun. It’s nice to see the joy that we see in the people we’re helping,” Eva Cox, a senior from Aurora, Illinois, said. “At the Primary campus, we painted a bunch of door frames. We dusted all the lights and fans in the school. We painted dots on the playground that were faded. We brought color back into the playground.”
“I love serving and I love seeing the smiles and happiness that we bring,” Layla Vilone, a sophomore from Dover, Delaware, added.
Throughout the week, the students stayed at King’s College and faith remained at the center of their experience. Participants celebrated Mass each morning and had many other opportunities for prayer, Eucharistic Adoration and Reconciliation.
Olivia Chapman, an eighth grader from Poquoson, Virginia, said the experience reminded her that even ordinary tasks can become an act of discipleship.
“It’s giving back to the community and working for God and His servants,” she said.