MOVE (Mobilization of Volunteer Efforts), quite honestly the heart of the Saint Mike’s community, is at the center of our Edmundite mission of social justice and preserving human dignity. Regardless of whether one’s drive to serve is faith-based or just out of the desire to do good, every year there is a surplus of enthusiastic applicants from to our 11 domestic and 2 international service trips that work with students in underfunded schools, those who are homeless, Native American Reservations, migrant families, among many other frequently marginalized groups.
Signed by the Winter 2015 Trip to Buffalo, NY.
Amongst a lot of significant changes in perspective, emotion, meaningful reflection, and hard work on these trips, spending a week doing service work with 11 other people is evidently almost guaranteed to lead to lots of inside jokes, unexpected situations, and just general ridiculousness. Here are some examples from SMC students:
Hartford, CT
“We volunteered at an after-school program in Hartford, and on the first day I was asked to help one first grader who was misbehaving at the back in the line. That first day he would not listen to anything I said and didn’t want me there. However, we came back to the school every day that week and on the last day we were there he saw me walk in the door, yelled my name with a big smile on his face, and ran to give me a hug. Seeing the change that some attention and encouragement can bring to a little kid was very powerful. It broke my heart to have to leave that day.” -Ashlee Hauble (Hartford, Spring 2016)
Salt Lake City, UT
“We work[ed] in different areas of the [Best Friends Animal] Sanctuary every day and…our group loved working with the pigs so much that we went back there and did two days working with the pigs. The staff in the pig area was so appreciative that they had the pigs paint us a picture! It’s still in the MOVE office today, and you can see it a little in this picture, Anthony [top left] is holding it!” -Megan McCauley (Utah, Winter 2015)
Buffalo, NY
Buffalo Crew at the American side of Niagara Falls
“I worked in Buffalo’s their NativityMiguel (yes, that’s one word) middle schools with students from generally low-income areas either at-risk of failing or dropping out. I spent the week in their all-girls school, Saint Monica’s. As an ed major and human being, I gained incredible respect for these young women and their teachers. This trip gave me immense appreciation for the educational opportunities I’ve had and gave me a more realistic idea of what to expect as someone who wants to teach in low-income areas.
In our downtime, however, we cooked all of our own meals and, on one of the last nights, we were left with a random assortment of food and didn’t want any of it to get thrown out, which resulted in the cheeto pancake concoction (that only few were brave enough to eat) pictured below:” --Rachel Carey (Buffalo, Winter 2015)
Christian Appalachian Project (KY)
“…We participated in an event called ‘Workfest’ put on by the Christian Appalachian Project. My group and I worked on the home of a disabled man from Rockcastle County and we spent the week building him a wheelchair-accessible ramp. The most impactful moment…was watching our homeowner go down the ramp for the first time. Once he had reached the cement of the driveway, he exclaimed that he could finally get his own mail…” -Amanda Fitzpatrick (Kentucky, Spring 2016)
Kentucky Group with the owner of his new wheelchair-accessible ramp!
Cheyenne River Reservation, SD
“[My trip] made me look at people completely differently. I learned so much about culture and perseverance through the people who lived there, and the importance of addressing their personal stories and what they had gone through from the United States in the past. The kids LOVED basketball and always wanted a piggy back ride, just like any child would, but they had so many experiences in life to make them more mature as well. It really was a life-changing experience.” -Emma Testone (South Dakota, Spring 2015)
Long Island, NY
“My service trip…was life-changing. It really made me step back and realize how much I truly have. After speaking with some of the men who were in recovery at the service site, I deepened my belief to not judge people based on stereotypes that others perceive them to be. What I mean is that people prejudge homeless and those recovering from substance abuse, when in reality the homeless people I met and the recovering substance abusers I spent time with had led similar lives to me, they just made some poor mistakes…the strength I saw in those recovering was amazing. I understand that the strength to change and become better is internally invested within us, but we have to be the ones willing to put forth the effort to be the best person we can be.” -Connor Flueckiger (Long Island, Spring 2016)
Immokalee, FL
“On my service trip to…the tomato capital of the country (90% of our tomatoes are grown there!), I was blessed to be able to spend time with the children of the migrant workers who pick those tomatoes. I worked with preschool-aged children, who apparently had never seen anyone quite like me. I’m six foot four, very broad shouldered and have no Latino blood in myself, so I did not really fit in. When they first saw me, they all were whispering to each other and pointing, which did make me feel a bit out of place. Then they started asking me to touch the ceiling, which was easy for someone of my stature. They were so impressed and kept asking me to do it, which was funny. Outside, they started calling me el monstruo (Spanish for monster), which turned into a game where I would chase them around. The next day though, they still called me el monstruo, instead of my name. I retorted…‘no soy el monstruo’ (I am not a monster) to which most of the kids jokingly replied that I was. However, one preschooler, Alex, quietly came up to me, and told me, ‘You are not a monster.’ It was an incredibly moving experience, where you have this college student from Colchester Vermont, and a preschooler from Immokalee Florida sharing kindness, and I went in thinking I would be the one doing all the good, but those kids did just as much for us.” -Zach Johnston (Immokalee, Winter 2015)
Hartford, CT
The…trip was an incredible reality check. It expanded my horizon about people and service…[it] focused a lot on intention versus what happened. It made me be more aware of those around me and not be as quick to judge others. People all have such unique stories. Also, a funny moment was when Johnnie, a man at immaculate Conception shelter, asked me if I was 15 or 16 even though I was 19 at the time. It was funny.” -Nicole Skaluba (Hartford, Spring 2016)
Big Thicket Reserve, TX
SMC volunteers in the Big Thicket Reserve
“…We spent every day in the woods, planting trees and getting our hands dirty, while bonding with one another over our desire to see a wild boar in the Thicket, or any other sign of native wildlife that we don’t see normally in New England. By the end of the week, we had planted 14,000 trees but had only seen insects and birds.
After a long day…driving back to the facility we were staying in, we spotted an armadillo on the side of the road! Our faculty advisor pulled a…U-Turn in the middle of the road, and we all got out to investigate the exotic animal. Unfortunately, he was dead… But we had a great time taking photos with him! That was the day we learned that armadillos can carry leprosy…(Disclaimer: Nobody was injured or became ill from the taking of these photographs, notice the stick I’m carrying).” -Marie Shepard (Texas, Winter 2016)
Marie with the armadillo
Cheyenne River Reservation, SD
“My trip…was one of the best weeks of my life. It pushed me far out of my comfort zone and placed me into the shoes of those who have had a completely different life than I have. I will never forget the children on those reservation, their bravery, kindness and humor. I hope to return to the res sometime soon, perhaps this summer with some of the st. Mike’s students I went on my trip with!” -Mariah Newman (South Dakota, Spring 2016)
Immokalee, FL
“The first full day…I begged our group to go to this place ‘Airboats and Alligators.’ I was looking forward to it the whole day and couldn’t wait to find gators. When we got there, there was a guy working there named Skip, and he had a baby gator that he let us hold. I was super excited to hold it, but as soon as it starting moving…and crawling across my hand I freaked out and wanted to give it back to Skip. The people in my service group made fun of me for the rest of the trip since I was so insistent on finding an alligator, and immediately was scared once I held it.” -Katie Barry (Immokalee, Winter 2016)
*Stories were edited for clarity and/or length*