Good afternoon Bristol and Happy New Year! If anyone is wondering how to start the New Year off on the right foot, might we suggest talking to the St. Stanislaus Church Youth Ministry? Because these kids really seem to have it right. They combine a love of community with an ambition to better themselves by flying out to Poland for a once in a lifetime trip. But they need your help.
With that cliffhanger, it’s such a pleasure to be able to feature a heartwarming story about Bristol’s youth as today’s All-Heart blog post!
As you know, it’s so important for young people to take a vestedinterest in their community
. A recent Bristol Press article featuring the St. Stanislaus Church’s Youth Ministry proves that Bristol’s youth are committed to doing just that. File that news under Stuff We Love.
The Youth Ministry operates under the benevolent watch of Debbie Sousa, who says her group is committed to serving the needs of people in the community. You can find these kids regularly volunteering at local food pantries and other non-profit organizations that benefit the Bristol community, but their good work is not limited to our city’s borders. In fact, their good work isn’t even limited to this time zone.
The kids have their sights set squarely on a trip to Poland this summer to participate in World Youth Day, an event that happens only once every three years, during which youth from all over the world congregate in one city in the spirit of hope, selflessness, and celebration. You can learn more about this event right here. This year WYD is being held in Krakow, Poland, so our young people get the very awesome chance to travel and experience a different culture, and also, the Pope attends and interacts with the other attendees, which can definitely be filed under Stuff That is Very Cool.
So the youth of Bristol’s St. Stanislaus Church are trying very hard to take part in this once-in-a-lifetime event, although as you might imagine, it is expensive to travel overseas, plus traveling with a group has its added difficulties as well.
That’s where the crux of the matter comes into play, The Youth Ministry hopes to raise about $30,000 to cover the cost of this trip and over half that amount, about $17,000, has already been raised, which is a fairly incredible feat for a group of young people to accomplish! If you are interested in helping these hardworking young folks reach their goal, you can donate to their GoFundMe page.
We wish the best of luck to these kids not only on their trip to Poland for World Youth Day, but on the rest of their endeavors as well. They certainly represent the Heart of our community, and with All of us chipping in a little, we might just make their dreams come true!
Keep up the great work, guys! Bright futures await all of you, Bristol is proud of you, and the city wouldn’t be the same without all of the hard work that our youth puts in to its own community.
Oh, and you can read the original Bristol Press article about St. Stanislaus’ Youth Ministry right here.
Spread the word!