Courtesy of Mary LaverThe birth of a new spring break service trip surfaced the week of Feb. 29 through March 4. The New York City Cabrini Immersion Experience was a revitalization of the connection that we have with the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, who founded Cabrini College, and with the Cabrini Mission Corps.
Nine students along with Mary Laver, coordinator of Community Outreach and Partnerships and Frederick Pratt, campus minister, trekked mostly around the Lower East Side of Manhattan, NY to truly understand what the legacy of St. Frances Cabrini stands for.
The last time that a Cabrini student delegation went to visit the headquarters in NY was in 1984, so a visit was overdue. Ann Plyler, director of the Cabrini Immersion Program, sketched out the week for the 2004 inaugural guests.
“I thought it was wonderful that college students wanted to give their time to service,” Plyler said. “The trip was to give them a view of Mother Cabrini, who was all about sharing the love of Christ in the world.”
Some of the many things that were included in the itinerary were a visit to a Chinese immigrant family’s home, an afternoon of recreation with the residents of Sister Josephine Tsuei’s Senior Day Services Center, a discussion with the personnel and guests of the original Catholic Worker, the house founded by Dorothy Day, a tour of Mother Cabrini High School and a lecture on the treatment of women around the world at the United Nations.
“The trip showed the rich history of immigrants and how they struggle to make ends meet in the present day,” Pratt, campus minister said.
In reflection on the experience, sophomore Patrick Jordan said, “I was most affected when I saw the huge gap between the rich and poor after we were at the Catholic Worker and then visited Fifth Avenue.”
Sophomore Maureen Cooper and freshman Jessica Damato, the group leaders, spent a month planning the trip. “For the first time, I got to see the real connection that Cabrini College has with the high school and the Mission Corps,” Cooper said.
The Cabrini Immersion Experience, along with its’ sibling spring break service trip Project Appalachia’s team of participants, held during the same time period, was funded by the generosity of many people in the extended campus community, including the Alumni board, faculty, staff and students who made contributions, bought Joe Corbi pizza and cookie dough, or purchased a raffle ticket for an autographed Flyers jersey.
Posted to the web by Angelina Wagner
