By David Kilby|Correspondent

For the almost 200 people who attended the Center for FaithJustice's Martin Luther King Day of Service, volunteering is a way to build community, learn the value of serving and strengthen their faith.

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A total of 150 youths from sixth to 12th grade and 35 chaperones from around the diocese and beyond attended the day of service. They began in St. Ann Parish, Lawrenceville, then dispersed to various service sites throughout Mercer County, before heading back to the parish to reflect on their experiences.

The event is organized by the Center for FaithJustice's JusticeWorx program, which also hosts mission trips to Trenton, Philadelphia and Appalachia in the summer for high school students. According to their mission statement, The Center for FaithJustice "provides transformative experiences of faith in action, builds community, serves those in need, educates for justice, and empowers people to change the world."

The youths and chaperones came from as far as St. Cyril of Jerusalem Parish in Jamison, Pa., and also hailed from Metuchen Diocese's Holy Family Parish, New Brunswick; St. Charles Borromeo Parish, Skillman, and St. Bernard of Clairvaux Parish, Bridgewater.  

Along with St. Ann Parish, other parishes in the Trenton Diocese that had youth participation were St. Katharine Drexel, Burlington, and St. James, Pennington.  Many of the kids participated in the day as part of their preparation for Confirmation.

The event had youths and chaperones working with several organizations in Trenton, such as Kinderworld daycare centers, the Foundation Academy charter school, and CARETRENTON, an organization that works on cleaning up the city. They also went to four different ARC Mercer group homes, five different Enable group homes and The Pavilion at Forrestal nursing home in Princeton.

"They're giving back to the community," said Dave Rowcotsky, a chaperone from St. Ann Parish. "It's not just about service hours. It's about doing the right thing."

Kathleen McQuarrie, 17, St. Ann Parish, who went to The Pavilion, said everyone there was very appreciative of the work she and her group did.

She recalled meeting a couple in the home who have been married for 67 years.

"They were so happy to be together," she shared.

Noel Carpenter, 14, of St. Ann Schoo,l went to Kinderworld to help out. She admitted that at first she thought she was going to be playing with kids there, but wound up cleaning the playground instead, working together with others her age.

"We all feel good that we cleaned things up for the kids," she shared.

Rocky Balsamo, executive director of The Center for FaithJustice, said this service day not only honors the legacy of Martin Luther King, but also follows the guidance of Pope Francis who has urged Catholics to care for the poor.

"(Caring for the poor) has been part of our (FaithJustice's) DNA since our inception," he said

“It was wonderful to see so many teens from the area spend their day off as a day on, instead, serving the community. It inspires us here at the Center for FaithJustice to see these young people living out their faith in action, following the commission of James 2:26, ‘Faith without works is dead,’” said Jan Wilcox, director of programming and outreach for the Center for FaithJustice.

"I just kept thinking more people should do this and help out," said Gabrielle DiIenno, 16, from St. Katharine Drexel Parish, who also worked with CARE. "It shouldn't be something we're forced to do. It's something we should just do on our own with friends."

"Any day is a good day to do service projects," said Msgr. Vincent Gartland, pastor of St. Ann Parish. "The more they do service the more they're going to grow, appreciate their own gifts and the gifts that other people have; and they learn that in giving they receive."

Quoting Martin Luther King, he said, "Everybody can be somebody because everybody can serve."

To register for a JusticeWorx service project, visit www.justiceworx.org or www.faithjustice.org. For other ideas for service projects, email Jan Wilcox, director of outreach and programming, at [email protected].