Last year, School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND) in St. Louis and Mount Mary University (MMU), Milwaukee, launched the concept of an “alternative spring break” during which students from the school traveled to Sancta Maria in Ripa to join sisters in their ministries and community living. The idea was such a success, that it was eagerly repeated again this year. In early March, 14 students made the trip to Missouri to spend their spring break living and working alongside sisters for a truly special experience of shared purpose, connection and community.

“We learned (last year) that this was a very worthwhile experience for the Mount Mary University students, for the sisters living at our SSND residence, for sisters who accompanied the students at the service sites and for the ministries themselves,” said Sister Carol Jean Dust, main SSND coordinator for both years’ visits. “It was so all-encompassing in blessings, personal and communal growth and actual service to others.”

In addition to months of coordination, the MMU community fundraised to help cover the transportation and incidental costs for sending the students, highlighting the value placed on the experience.

“Then they came very eager to be here, to learn, and most of all to serve,” said Sister Carol Jean. “It is deeply inspiring to witness a choice to serve in a week that could be a personal break.”

This year, students could select from various service opportunities. Sister Nancy Becker led groups to volunteer with a criminal justice ministry. Sister Maxine Pohlman worked with students as they toured and tended the grounds at LaVista Ecological Center in nearby Godfrey, Illinois. At St. Josephine Bakhita Parish, Sister Gail Guelker and participants helped prep food for a Lenten fish fry and visited parishioners in their homes. Students visited retired SSND at The Sarah Community and worked with sisters at Sancta Maria in Ripa on various projects, from prepping the gardens for spring to helping prepare fund-raising mailings. At each location, students were given an informational orientation into the mission and goals of the organizations and how those efforts aligned with SSND ministry values and ideals.

One of the “new this year” options was volunteering for the food pantry housed at St. Pius V parish, an urban parish with doors open to all and a faith community with many cultures.

“When Sister Carol Jean asked me (about taking the students to St. Pius V), I was excited,” said Sister Gen Cassani, a longtime parishioner and volunteer at St. Pius V. “St Pius V is a little different than other places where they just box up the food. This is more like a little grocery store. They sign in with their name and the number of people in their family and then they go around and pick out what they need, what they want for their groceries.”

The food pantry/store is open twice a week, serving approximately 100-125 people each of those days.

“St Pius V is a parish that is made up of many different cultures, serving an immigrant and refugee population” said Sister Gen.  “Currently they are mostly from the African countries of Ghana, Togo, Kenya, Rwanda and others. Prior to that, we had a very large community from Myanmar (formerly Burma), and before that, there were many people from Vietnam.”

The parish receives donated food from several local grocery stores and then also purchases food with monetary donations. There is a focus on stocking the store with beans, lentils, rice and the fresh vegetables that would be most familiar and relevant to the diets of those who the pantry store serves.

“It honors and respects the dignity of the people who come seeking assistance,” said Sister Gen.

The students spent the morning on such tasks as dividing up a 125-pound bag of rice into two-cup portions, creating care packages of feminine products and helping to set up the tables of food. In the afternoon, they checked in shoppers and assisted them with their selections.

“What I hope they took away from the day was the respect and dignity we show the people,” said Sister Gen. “I enjoyed listening to the students’ desires and dreams for their education and what it could lead to. They were all very focused on people and helping people. I think they were amazing to come on their spring break and spend all the time that they did here in St. Louis.”

The evening before the students departed for home, they shared gifts of appreciation and notes of thanks with the sisters. In return, sisters offered their blessing and Sister Carol Jean presented each with a Blessed Theresa medal that they could take with them and wear as a memento.

Sister Carol Jean shared she received a text from one of the students after she had returned home saying, “I miss being over there and I wear my necklace (medal) everyday as a reminder of St. Louis.”

“I hope that this networking between our ministries with youth and our sisters can continue to happen,” said Sister Carol Jean. “It provides service-learning alongside a shared daily life, generational bonding, broadening of one’s vision and perspective, new understandings of the needs right in one’s own neighborhood, creative ways to be of service to others, deepening of one’s faith and tools for discerning one’s call through service opportunities. Through it all, I pray that each student and sister carry a memory forward that nourishes her life for further growth and service in the mission of God.”