In top photo, a young person helps to make special hospital gowns for seriously ill hospitalized children which was one of the MISSION: Jersey projects in Visitation Parish, Brick on July 17. Chloe Berwick photos
By Chloe Berwick, Correspondent, and staff reports
Early on a hot Friday in July, dozens of teens from across the Diocese of Trenton set aside typical summer recreation and relaxation, gathering instead in church to begin a day of service and solidarity.
PHOTO GALLERY: MISSION: Jersey in Freehold 7-15-2026
PHOTO GALLERY: MISSION: Jersey in Brick 7-17-2026
PHOTO GALLERY: MISSION: Jersey in Sacred Heart, Trenton 7-21-2026
Gathered with the young participants in Visitation Church, Brick, Dan Waddington, diocesan director of youth and young adult ministries, opened the day with prayer and explained the “why” behind the day ahead. Participants were then divided into small groups, each with their own adult leader. The second of three MISSION: Jersey service events of 2026 was officially underway.
First held in 2017, MISSION: Jersey is an annual series of one-day, in-person service retreats for teenage parishioners. It allows participants to step away from their everyday lives and work together on projects that serve the local population. Running from July 15 through 21, this year’s MISSION: Jersey took place in three parishes – Visitation, St. Rose of Lima in Freehold, and Sacred Heart in Trenton – and drew about 125 teens to attend one or more of the sessions.
Each session focused on its own unique projects, specific to the needs of the surrounding communities. Across the three sites, participants conducted an array of service-based tasks in partnership with area groups, including Open Door Food Pantry; St. Peter’s Community Kitchen; G’s Giving Gowns, Ocean Families Success Center, all in Freehold; Seeds of Service in Brick, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society Sacred Heart Conference in Trenton.
Of the Freehold session, Waddington recalled, “The kids got to serve people in need directly, organize donations and make food baskets. They made 500 bagged lunches that could be distributed to people as they came and asked for help,” Waddington said.
In Sacred Heart Parish, participants joined in the monthly food distribution, unloading and sorting donations and providing prepared baskets to recipients.
“Those same food baskets that they created, people came to pick them up. Our young people get to meet people in need as they come in… so that project really is a full circle experience,” Waddington explained.
Working with the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Visitation Parish, teens learned about the ministry of lay people offering personalized services to those who are suffering. The service project involved sorting and folding clothing for a St. Vincent de Paul thrift shop, which sells items at low prices to those in need and whose proceeds directly support the Society.
“It was cool to get to see what they do and how big they’ve grown and impacted this community here,” Christian Jacobi, a student in Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft, said of his experience. “Service means helping others that are less fortunate and using your capabilities and what you can do to help others that need it the most,” he added.
Retreatants also served with G’s Giving Gowns, a nonprofit organization founded by St. Robert Bellarmine parishioner and previous MISSION: Jersey attendee, Giuliana Demma. After seeing her cousin face hospitalizations to treat cancer and the ill-fitting uncomfortable hospital gowns she had to wear, Giuliana decided to make gowns for young patients meant to afford more comfort and dignity.
Participants helped to make the gowns by pinning and cutting fabric. Teens also created colorful cards with positive messages to be included with the gowns, which have been sent to patients in 10 countries and 47 states since the organization’s founding in 2021.
“I like helping other people and giving back. So helping kids in the hospital really made me feel better,” Camryn Pinguelo of St. Mary Parish, Colts Neck, said. “I learned that you could see Jesus in other people.”
Teens also had the chance to work with Seeds of Service, a multifaceted agency helping those in need in and around the Brick area. While there, some participants worked in the community garden, where hundreds of pounds of produce are grown and given to the community for free. Others worked with clothing donations, which are often sold in support of the ministry or given directly to people in need. Still others worked in the food pantry, where young people served guests directly.
For Michaela Minkowitz of St. Catharine Parish, Spring Lake, the opportunity to interact directly with visitors was her favorite part.
“I went into the food pantry at one point, and I helped a customer find what he wanted. It was cool,” she said.
Back in Visitation Church, the retreatants ended their day of service with a time of reflection and prayer.
“We’re planting seeds in these kids’ hearts about what it means to serve God and help the community. And in their own ways, they’re taking those things home,” Waddington said.
