Students taking part in Mission Mondays at St. Pius X Parish are helping support pediatric cancer patients, cleaning up local cemeteries and brightening hospital gowns. (Photos by Georgianna Penn and provided)GREENSBORO — St. Pius X’s Mission Mondays are a new opportunity for young Catholics to use their time and talents to serve the Lord while earning service hours with friends over summer break.
Rather than mission trips that allow only a small number of young people to participate, Kat Manzella, youth director at St. Pius X Church in Greensboro, created Mission Mondays to allow more youth to meet throughout the summer.
The first session kicked off with a group of more than 25 students and their parents at Bass Chapel Cemetery in Greensboro. They were joined by members of Greenhill Conservators to clean, clear debris, scrub, polish and restore some of the headstones.
The next week, campers crafted gowns for children in Honduras who are battling cancer. Using men’s dress shirts as a base, they sewed on colorful butterflies and tiny birds to cheer the young patients.
The flexible opportunities to do good have been appreciated by parents and youth.
“I am thankful Kat reached out to my daughter, Mary,” said April Parker, director of curriculum and special projects at St. Pius X School. “Mary was not just thinking about service hours, she just enjoyed the experience. Kat involved her by putting her on the sewing machine to help make the gowns.”
Beads of Courage Inc. was Mission Monday’s third project. The national non-profit was founded in 2005 to provide inspiration and support children with serious illnesses. Patients receive a bead for each treatment milestone. Over the course of their journey, they might receive as many 500 beads, Manzella said.
As student Aoibhin Colleran explained, “We are making the beads to give to the kids for when they are a little scared, to put on their necklaces to give them some courage.”
When asked what her favorite part was about making the beads, which are bear-shaped and baked in a small oven to cure, Maddie McGovern, rising eighth-grader, replied, “knowing that these will be given to kids and will make them happy. Every single bead is a step in their journey with cancer.”
Camper Emma Long explained, “it’s nice because I just feel like a part of something bigger. … Here it’s like a little craft, but it goes a long way for other people who really want to feel happy that day.”
Students write cards to go with the beads. “You are an inspiration, you are strong, you are powerful and this bear wants to be just like you,” Emma Markun wrote.
That tangible narrative of their healing journey is powerful for the children, said Manzella, who also serves as executive director of Kisses4Kate. The local non-profit sponsors
Beads of Courage at Brenner Children’s Hospital, which is where the beads crafted during Mission Monday will be donated.
Kisses4Kate was launched in 2010 to support families that need assistance with rent, mortgage or utilities through their child’s cancer journey. The organization was inspired by a promise Manzella made to her goddaughter, Kate Thornton, who lost her battle with leukemia in 2015. Manzella keeps Kate’s memory alive through the efforts of youth who are lifting the spirits of families going through what Kate’s family experienced.
“Kate’s influence runs through everything I do,” Manzella said. “Helping kids with cancer through Kisses4Kate and inspiring students to give back in this way is and has always been a huge part of my heart.” Mission Mondays is a natural extension of that, she says. “It’s doing good for others. It’s answering the call to help.”
“My favorite part of Mission Mondays is learning about the issues in the community that really need our attention and our hope and our prayers,” said student Alyssa Danial.
“It kind of brings you together because you’re getting to have joy with your friends. You’re putting joy into helping others,” Mary Parker said.
— Georgianna Penn
