Kevin Meyer, Tempo Editor
Pictured above: Members of the Lewis community help other volunteers at Feed My Starving Children in Aurora, Ill.
As the Christmas Giving Tree closes the activities for the winter season, University Ministry prepares for several mission trips in the spring semester.
The last project to benefit those in need this holiday season that is currently taking place at the Sancta Alberta Chapel is the annual Christmas Giving Tree. The Christmas tree is designed to help particular families in the Chicagoland area with their essential needs.
A parish in Chicago gives names of families in need to the ministry department; those on the list are placed on the tree in ornament form for the Lewis community to adopt. By adopting a family, a member of the community volunteers to purchase gifts for that family for Christmas.
These gifts consist of the basic necessities that the family needs, not wants. These items include articles of clothing, blankets and non-perishable food.
“We’re really happy with the Christmas Giving Tree; it has been a really great expression of generosity by the community,” said Br. Philip Johnson, FSC, director of University Ministry. “It’s a great tradition for some teams or organizations around campus to adopt a family and do some service work for the holiday season.”
Another ongoing project run by University Ministry is helping the Feed My Starving Children organization. At this organization’s facilities, students and faculty volunteer to help those in need by packaging food for families around the world.
Recently, they have been working with medical groups to help distribute medical supplies overseas for people around the world who don’t have these products.
“As a Christian and Catholic foundation, we are called upon to help our brothers and sisters,” said Br. Philip. “I always encourage others to serve, since it can be transformative and can change our lives; we can be saved from our self-absorption, from our selfishness to the point where we can become more compassionate, loving and concerned people. Plus, in all reality, it’s just the right thing to do.”
According to Martha Villegas-Miranda, the coordinator of University Ministry outreach, there are several mission trips planned for the upcoming semester. Before the semester even begins, there will be a group from Lewis heading to the Philippines the first two weeks of January to help those in need there. In June, another mission trip will take place in Sucre, Bolivia.
“The larger trips like the Philippines and Bolivia are much more profoundly active in terms of equal justice,” said Br. Philip. “All the retreats often affect people on a different level; [it] gives the students and faculty a chance to reflect and understand more of the situation that the people are enduring in these countries.”
Br. Phillip referred to the trips as “eye-opening” because some people that go are expecting things to be a certain way, and the end result is almost the opposite.
Because the people in these countries clearly need help, they welcome the mission people with open arms and give the little resources they have to house them for the time being. It baffles those that attend the mission trips that these people are still so happy, despite the fact they have so little compared to most Americans.
Along with the large-scale mission trips, University Ministry will continue to work with Feed My Starving Children in the hopes of helping more and more people. There will be a special Easter basket drive for kids under the age of 12 during that particular holiday as well.
“I always tell our volunteers the same thing, and that is that people go looking for happiness, but happiness isn’t something you can find or create; it’s always a gift or result of doing something for someone else,” Br. Philip said.
Photo provided by Martha Villegas-Miranda.
Kevin Meyer
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