Over 60 individuals, both middle school youth and adult leaders from Catholic parishes in Illinois and several surrounding states, were in Springfield from July 15-19 as volunteers in the Just5Days service program.
Just5Days is a five-day experience of service, prayer and liturgy, hands-on learning activities and community building. Youth entering seventh, eighth or ninth grades can participate and each group travels with adult volunteers.
Each participant does approximately 15 hours of service, explains Kyle Holtgrave, associate director for Youth and Young Adult Ministry, who was once again the site coordinator for this year's Just5Days.
The volunteers were housed at St. Agnes School on North Amos in Springfield. "They came in on Monday. The service days were Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; they worked from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.," Holtgrave says. "On Friday they returned home."
Groups that came to the see city included Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in Darien, St. Margaret Mary Parish in Naperville, Ss. Peter and Paul Parish in Cary, St. Peter Parish in Kansas City, Mo., St. John the Baptist in Tipp City, Ohio, and St. Katharine Drexel in Kaukauna, Wis.
Worksites were researched and selected by how they serve people in need. Some sites offered working directly with other individuals — mainly the elderly or the very young — while others were fixing-up and clean-up projects or behind-the-scenes jobs.
This year the youth and their adult chaperones volunteered at St. Joseph's Home, Holy Family Food Pantry, the St. Katharine Drexel Parish urban garden plot, Concordia Village, Mission Outreach, Family Service Center, MERCY Communities, Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Illinois, all in Springfield, as well as Refuge Ranch in Pawnee.
Work projects included packing medical supplies, assisting and spending time with the elderly, gardening, completing farm chores, working in a food pantry, cleaning up brush and trash, resealing a basketball court, helping with an arts program for at-risk children and more.
Because they came to Springfield in July the volunteers expected to be working in hot and muggy weather, so they were prepared for it. As in many years past the outside temperatures soared into the 90s, making working outdoors more of a challenge.
In the evening the group took part in activities that helped the young people make the connection between how their work serves others and how the Catholic Church teaches about the human family.
Students learned about Catholic social teaching and the importance of justice, but they had fun doing it, says Holtgrave, adding that the volunteers always develop personal relationships with one another and with the people they have served throughout the week.
This summer Just5Days was hosted in other cities around the country including St. Joseph, Mich.; Appleton, Wis.; Austin, Texas; Kansas City, Kan.; and Springfield, Mass. For more information on Just5Days, contact Kyle Holtgrave at (217) 698-8500 or email him at .