24 teens from St. Peter’s Teens in Action group and 5 chaperones spent a week of their summer vacation at Catholic Heart Work Camp. With a home base in North Haledon, New Jersey, teens worked in agencies, community organizations, and schools in need in cities like Newark, Paterson, and Edison. This is the ninth consecutive year that teens from St. Peter’s have participated in Catholic Heart Work Camp, and the second trip to New Jersey.
The teens from St. Peters joined youth groups from over a dozen other parishes, and made their home at Mary Help of Christians Academy in North Haledon. Many of the cities and communities that benefit from the help of Catholic Heart Work Camp in New Jersey are in areas that struggle with poverty, homelessness, and hunger. These cities are also home to schools and community organizations that serve children and adults of all ages with special needs. Campers spent their days embedded in agencies like food pantries, inner city preschools, homeless shelters, and even a monastery, helping to provide the much needed support to the communities they serve year-round.
Teens worked in small groups with other campers from other states doing things like painting rooms and buildings, stocking shelves, patching holes in walls, organizing and handing out clothing, preparing and serving food, and befriending those in need of a friendly face and compassionate ear. Because this was a “next level” camp, each day began with an uplifting mass, where teens and their chaperones asked God to work through their hands and hearts. And after each workday was done, the teens from St. Peter’s had no problem mustering up a “second wind” for the evening program, where they celebrated the day’s work, and enjoyed social activities like trivia contests, dance routines, lip sync contests, as well as faith activities like Eucharistic Adoration.
Representing St. Peter’s this year were 14 first-time campers, and 10 “veterans” who had attended at least one other Catholic Heart Work Camp. Regardless of their experience, the impact of the week was felt by all. Leah Sosnowski, a first-time camper and a sophomore at HK described her experience as “fun, inspiring educational, and overall great. I met new people that became my friends and really liked starting my day out right with mass every morning. I can’t wait for next year.”
St. Peter’s Teens in Action generally meets the first Sunday of each month from 6-8 p.m. at St. Peter’s in Higganum and welcomes all teens who would like to put their faith in action or learn more about Catholic Heart Work Camp. Contact St. Peter’s parish office for more details.
Submitted by Erika Fleig, 9/24/19
