Through Service Trips, Students Gain a Deeper Understanding of Vincentian Mission

Gold Cross in a gold crown
September 6, 2018

St. John’s students participating in the University’s Plunge program traveled to service sites around the globe this spring and summer in an effort to help others and answer the centuries-old Vincentian question—what must be done?

“The Plunge program is one of the unique ways that Campus Ministry offers students to connect with their faith through service, prayer, and social justice,” said Jordan Bouchard ’14C, Residence Campus Minister for Vincentian Service. “By ‘plunging’ themselves into a new community, they connect with our Vincentian mission to go out and serve those on the margins and most in need, as St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac call us to do.”

Through the plunges, students immerse themselves in Vincentian service and experiential learning by working on agricultural projects, housing restoration, and community building, or, by providing other assistance to pilgrims.

Visiting “Healing Waters”

In Lourdes, a small town in the southwest of France, 14 students and administrators helped the elderly, sick, and injured along their pilgrimage to the city’s healing waters as part of the Lourdes Pilgrimage Plunge. The water in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes is said to have miraculous healing powers, and many pilgrims come to make peace there with their suffering.

“Sr. Patricia Evanick, D.C., and I had the wonderful opportunity to accompany students and administrators on a service trip to Lourdes,” said Rev. John J. Holliday, C.M., University Chaplain, who celebrated Mass and heard confessions at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes. “It was my first visit to Lourdes and it was a deeply spiritual experience for all of us.”

Kelly Grzinic, a graduate student in the Childhood and Special Education program, was also moved.

“My fellow plunge members and I served in the healing baths, meeting each pilgrim’s needs throughout the process,” she said. “We welcomed them with a smile, and we prayed with them—and for them. The service itself seems simple but it was deeply profound. We were blessed to be there for pilgrims in their most vulnerable moments.”

Faith Experiences in a Close-Knit Community

More than 5,400 miles away, 12 St. John’s students in the Panama Plunge visited the rural town of Chuchupate in the Chiriquí Province of Panama.

“With the help of the Congregation of the Mission, our students spent six days with host families as they focused on cultural immersion and understanding the Panamanian way of life,” said Ms. Bouchard. “Each year, we go to a different location in Panama, because we want to spread the Vincentian mission and the connections with the Vincentians.”

Michael Cooper, a senior who is majoring in Communication Arts, worked closely with parishioners in the town as the group help lay a cement walkway around their church.

“In spite of my broken Spanish and the little English they knew, we were able to learn about each other,” he recalled. “It was truly eye-opening to see the values of the community and what they found to be important. Chuchupate is a tight-knit community and they lean on each other for the betterment of the whole. My experience there truly revived my faith in humanity.”

Irene Gorosave, a junior with a double major in Environmental Science and Government and Politics, had a similar experience in Panama working in a local school.

“I offered my knowledge and experiences to the children, but in reality, I learned so much from them,” she said. “I realized that although I was there to serve, they were actually a blessing to me.” —Irene Gorosave

“These trips help us identify who we are as part of the Vincentian community, because they comprise aspects of service, learning, reflection, and religious tradition,” said Rev. Tri M. Duong, C.M., Campus Minister for Vincentian Service and Faith Formation at the Staten Island campus.

Rebuilding after the Storm

In Houston, TX, a city that is still suffering from the devastating effects of Hurricane Harvey, 13 students collaborated with All Hands and Hearts, a volunteer disaster relief organization. Together, they focused on the removal of mud, muck, and other material from flood-damaged homes and helped install drywall, insulation, and flooring in rehabilitated dwellings.

“After a full day of volunteering, the group shared simple meals together, living out the Vincentian virtue of simplicity,” said Ms. Bouchard. “After nightly prayer and reflection, it was lights out by 10 p.m., with another full workday to follow.”

Helping Here at Home

Taylormarie Capoziello, a junior majoring in Legal Studies, spent her spring break participating in the Niagara Falls Plunge. The city, despite being a popular tourist destination, struggles with the challenge of poverty, as more than 27 percent of its residents are at, or below, the poverty level, according to the US Census Bureau.

“I wanted to be able to help somewhere that was closer to home than the other trips, and Niagara Falls is a place that really needs help,” she said. “I grew up in Brooklyn, NY, and Staten Island, NY, so, doing service in my home state was really important to me.”

During the plunge, Taylormarie and nine other students worked in food pantries, meal centers, after school programs, and clinics. The group also painted rooms inside the house of a local family in need.

“They were all so grateful for us to be there to help and were so appreciative of everything that we were doing,” she said. “It meant so much to them and it was so humbling to witness.” —Taylormarie Capoziello

A Tradition of Service

The Philadelphia Plunge is the University’s longest standing plunge, and offers students the opportunity to learn about Vincentian works in an urban setting. Ten students spent a week in the greater Philadelphia area, staying at the St. Vincent De Paul Young Adult Center, which is run by the Daughters of Charity. Students served in the suburb of Germantown, PA, where they worked in local soup kitchens, a social service center, and a thrift store that is run by men who were previously homeless or incarcerated.

Campus Ministry plans to expand the Plunge program in the future to include new locations such as Puerto Rico; Tuba City, AZ; Washington, DC; St. Louis, MO; Mexico; and Ukraine.

“We are excited to continue growing our program domestically and internationally,” said Ms. Bouchard. “By doing so, our students will continue to meet our Vincentian family around the world and be transformed by being of service to others.”

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