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TEENS HELP OTHERS DURING SUMMER SERVICE WEEK
More than 1,000 teens spent their first week of summer break June 8 through 12 helping the needy as part of the 14th annual Mission Possible, an in-town service week run by Catholic parish youth ministries throughout the Dallas area.
Middle school and high school youth in grades 6 through 12 divided into work crews from more than 30 parishes to participate in team building activities, prayer and service activities that included sorting food and clothing, painting buildings, landscape cleanup and spending time with the elderly, homeless and disabled.
The teens learned they didn’t have to leave their communities to perform “random acts of kindness” as they washed windows of area agencies or delivered homemade sandwiches to local fire and police stations.
Parishes in the Dallas diocese were broken up into seven regions, with teens from as far north as Frisco and as far south as Lancaster and Waxahachie. Service sites included nursing homes, resale shops, community centers, food banks, a homeless shelter and soup mobile.
The teens, many of whom return each year to serve with Mission Possible, volunteered at a different site each day during the week.
Each morning in Plano, almost 300 of the 1,300 teens that participated throughout the Dallas area gathered at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish and another 200 or so teens gathered at St. Mark’s parish to receive their work site assignments and to pray before dispersing for a day’s work at sites as far as South Dallas, Mesquite, Irving or Frisco.
The teens represented the parishes of All Saints, Prince of Peace, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. Mark’s.
In addition, a grant committee of 20 high school youth met with the leaders of various agencies to decide how donated funds from the Catholic Foundation and other donations should be distributed.
During these tough economic times, emphasis was placed this year on sorting food and learning about world hunger.
Catholic Relief Services held a “hunger banquet” each day at Mary Immaculate Parish in Farmers Branch in which some teens were given a full meal while others were only given a bowl of rice and beans. The purpose of the exercise was to raise awareness about hunger in Third World countries..
The service week, supported by the Catholic Diocese of Dallas, was kicked off with a Mass on June 8 at Bishop Lynch High School in East Dallas, celebrated by Dallas Bishop Kevin Farrell and concelebrated by Father Anthony Lackland, associate director of vocations for the Catholic Diocese of Dallas. Ed Leyden, President of Bishop Lynch, also served at the Mass.
A youth rally was led by singer Jessica Volcansek and spiritual fitness minister Tammy Amosson. Money collected during the Mass and rally will go towards helping the needy in Honduras as determined by a committee of high school students.
Mission Possible was established in 1995 at St. Jude’s Parish in Allen, Texas, by Ms. Amosson, who was the parish’s youth ministry leader at the time. This first Mission Possible consisted of approximately 50 students and adult volunteers. The youth ministry team was inspired by Connie Amosson, Tammy’s mother-in-law, who provided a vision for the growth of Mission Possible.
During the first Mission Possible, Connie was dying of A.L.S., Lou Gehrig’s disease. Her focus, however, was not on her own illness but rather on how to serve others. It would be only a few weeks following that first Mission Possible that Connie’s battle with A.L.S. would come to an end; yet her vision has transpired into what Mission Possible is today.
In memory of Connie Amosson, each year Mission Possible makes a donation to A.L.S. research in hopes of helping others who suffer from this incurable disease.
Mission Possible is held each year during the second week of June. For more information, contact Jeri Phillips at 972-398-5400 ext. 4285 or cell 214-695-2214 or at jphillips@eseton.org, or Sam Patterson at 972-682-3585 or cell 972-841-1803 or at spatterson@spxdallas.org.
