Kellenberg Service Camp Lets Students Put Faith Into Action at Catholic Charities Ministries

The inaugural Service Immersion Camp, a weeklong partnership between Kellenberg Memorial High School and Catholic Charities of Long Island, gave 14 student campers daily experiences learning about and taking part in CCLI ministries.

The July 21 to 25 camp began with campers filling more than 300 backpacks for students in Wyandanch to be distributed through the Gerald Ryan Outreach Center at Our Lady of Miraculous Medal parish. The next day, at the Marianist retreat house, Stella Maris in Islip, campers met with teen refugees from CCLI Immigrant Services and played sports, shared a pizza lunch and joined in a bilingual discussion about their favorite activities.

Later in the week, campers hosting a carnival featuring face-painting and water balloons for the young kids in the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program in Freeport. The little kids enjoyed getting a chance to “paint” the campers’ faces, arms and legs, too. Then, at the Wantagh Senior Community Center, campers called Bingo, played ring toss and cornhole and spoke one-to-one with the active senior members.

The camp was capped off at the Kellenberg campus in Uniondale where students greeted adults and staff from the Christopher Residence for the developmentally disabled in Valley Stream. Campers assisted residents in playing games of bowling and spent time together over a barbecue lunch. The group prayed together in the beautiful Maria Regina Room at the Firebird Center for Arts and Athletics.

“Spending the week with these amazing young men and women was a gift for me,” said Dr. Val Serpe, director of special events and community engagement at Kellenberg Memorial. “To see them grow each day in their level of comfortability and willingness to be the first to outreach to others was inspiring.”

Dr. Serpe shared comments from the students, who are entering their sophomore or junior years. One suggested that the camp be held for two weeks next summer. Another camper said she didn’t realize “until I started packing backpacks in Wyandanch that some children don’t have what we take for granted. Next year, I would like to bring items to each of the charities, like clothes to the parish and toys for the children in WIC.”

The pilot program started to take shape in the spring when Dr. Serpe and Brother Timothy Driscoll, S.M., of the Marianists’ Meribah Province, who is a CCLI board member, toured Catholic Charities ministry sites with CCLI’s executive team.

Camp days began with the students reflecting on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy they would perform. “It was a great…faith-in-action experience,” said Patricia Callahan, coordinator of volunteers and interns at CCLI. She remarked that the students’ post-camp evaluations came back “more favorably” than she expected, with several campers saying they can’t wait to come back again next summer.

The camp is part of a growing collaboration with Catholic high schools in the diocese, Callahan said, noting that Kellenberg, St. John the Baptist and Holy Trinity each host at least two events annually with CCLI, and other schools have connected as well. “We are exposing students to serving others and making them aware of some of our neediest neighbors on Long Island,” she said.

Dr. Serpe said she eagerly anticipates continuing the relationships begun at the camp in the next school year. “Every camper asked if we could start a Catholic Charities club,” she said. “Of course, I wholeheartedly agreed and look forward to what the future holds in service to the needy across Long Island.”

High school is a formative time in the lives of students, and it makes perfect sense for students, especially those in Catholic schools, to learn more about how Catholic Charities reaches out to our needy and vulnerable neighbors on Long Island and to invite them to take part in our mission.