After our opening prayer on Monday, June 27th, the young people blessed each other with the Sign of the Cross and then all thirty-eight of them were driven to the ropes course at the Franklin Y. We were lucky - the weather was great and everyone enjoyed the community-building day.
On Tuesday, some of the teens went to the Council on Aging and did a car wash for the senior citizens. It was a sunny day and again we were lucky we did not have any rain and the young people washed around fifty cars. Others went to the Wakefield Estate and some others went to Fr. Bill’s Place and helped prepare lunch for the folks who were staying there. We brought several dozen cans of tuna which we collected during the school year that we used to make the lunch for the group. Another group went to “Cradles to Crayons” and still another group went to “My Brother’s Keeper” where they delivered furniture. One family had seven children and the young people had to carry seven mattresses up three flights of stairs. The family was so excited to receive their mattresses and beds. We also went to Wrentham Development Center where our young people worked with mentally challenge folks. It was a wonderful experience. A small group also went to Bethany House in Framingham where they visited some of the retired sisters.
On Wednesday, some of the teens went to the Greater Boston Food Bank where they spent some time sorting various items for the food bank. Some groups also worked at Cradles to Crayons and Long Island Shelter. Some of the teens also worked at My Brother’s Keeper, Wrentham Development Center and the Brookwood Estate.
On Thursday morning four young people went to help some senior citizens wash windows and plant some flowers. A rather large group went to the Quincy Interfaith Social Services to help unload a truck, stack shelves and help with general clean up. Around 11:15 the whole group went over to the Council on Aging to help serve lunch to the senior citizens. At the end of the meal we also served a large sheet cake then we played some games. Our young people brought in little gifts for the seniors so everyone had a prize! The senior citizens loved the luncheon and the teens had fun sitting and sharing stories with them at this meal.
Service Plunge 2011 ended with the celebration of a Mass. Fr. Peter Casey presided and at the end of the Mass each participant received a ‘Jesus” wristband as a memory for the week. It was a great week and we are very proud of our young people who gave so much of their time and themselves during this Christian service week.
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