Meet the new team of Passionist Volunteers who will begin their year of service in Jamaica next week!
Steve Parker: Born and raised in Randolph, NJ; 2010 Graduate, Fairfield University, B.A. Sociology/Concentration in Anthropology; Minor Psychology. Long volunteer service experience: three sessions in New Orleans, work with homeless in Washington, DC. His semester break visit to Jamaica in January ‘10 profoundly influenced his decision to serve with PVI. Steve loves sports especially soccer; was captain of his club soccer team at Fairfield. Led Kairos retreats throughout college. A recommendation testimony from a University staff person wrote: “Steve will change the world. I firmly believe that. I give him my highest and most enthusiastic recommendation.” By going to Jamaica to serve with PVI Steve “plans on serving, getting experience, learning from the people I serve and using these to eventually study sustainable development in grad school, hopefully become a professor and one day to initiate an NGO.”
Michelle Asher: Born and raised in Elon, North Carolina; 2010 Graduate, University of Notre Dame, B.B.A. Finance. Appalachia Seminar, Freshman year; semester abroad at Trinity College, Dublin. A high school mission trip to Costa Rica laid the groundwork for her desire to do service abroad. Besides reading, Michelle has a strong interest in microfinance and business development as well as similar areas of international development and would like to work with non-profits and NGOs to ensure that their services are reaching those in need. Michelle believes that “no one should live in a world ruled by fear, whether that fear be about wars and safety, money or anything else. I have been given a lot of opportunities throughout my life and I want the chance to give those opportunities to other people.”
Brendan O’Leary: Born in Oceanside, CA into a military family living for a time in Quantico, VA and eventually settled in Fredricksburg, VA; 2010 Graduate, University of New Mexico, B.A. Anthropology and American Studies; attended two high schools simultaneously, one being the Commonwealth Governor’s School for Gifted Students; studied abroad at the University of East London. Enjoys playing and listening to music along with backpacking and hiking. Brendan sees himself instilled with a spirit of service from a young age that was given deep roots through his experience in Scouting. Brendan is an Eagle Scout! As he comes to the end of his undergraduate career he feels burnt out on academia but feels more aware than ever of the need to live outside oneself. In connecting social justice to his own faith he sees it stemming “from the Greatest Commandment, to love God with your whole heart and to love your neighbor as yourself. Peace and social justice should begin with your love of God and from that love a caring spirit towards others.”
Jen Martin: Born and raised in Reading, MA; 2010 Graduate, Fairfield University, B.S. Sociology and Communication, two minors: Peace & Justice and Theatre. A member of Ignatian Solidarity Corps at Fairfield; Semester Abroad, Cape Town, South Africa. Enjoys painting and knitting, but Jen has a passion for theatre and its therapeutic potential for children and youth living at life’s margins. Jen’s life changed through her experience in South Africa where she discovered a love for finding connections with others across cultures and for learning about injustice in a practical sense, not just an academic issue. She declares that thanks to the family she found at Fairfield she is continuing to learn and create who she is and wants to be, “I am an artist and an activist, constantly growing, experiencing new challenges and aspects of the world just when I am starting to feel like I have it all figured out. I am ready to work, to learn and to take the next step in my life. There is so much more to learn about the world and myself, and I want to experience that journey!”
Sean Clores: Raised on Long Island in Levittown and Huntington; 2010 Graduate Fairfield University, B.A. Communications, English minor. Sean likes to cook but has a deep passion for sports, especially basketball; Sports Director, Fairfield U’s Radio Station, WVOF; wants to be a basketball coach and a teacher. Sean’s great grandparents were Holocaust victims at Auschwitz out of Salonika, Greece; his grandmother, a child prisoner there survived. Sean was a founding member of a multi-cultural fraternity at Fairfield. Cites his ten days in Jamaica this past January as some of the best days and most important of his entire life. Asking Sean about his spiritual experience brought this striking response: “To me, God is the spirit above it all. He created everything and is involved in everything. To be honest, I hate giving answers like that because it doesn’t sound original and I really don’t know how to put my feelings of God into words, but this is what I know. When I have applied my faith in God in my life, things have gone really well. The real time where I find my faith comes in the tough times. It’s easy to believe in God when everything is going well, but what about those obstacles and tests? I believe that I always have to be an example of what I believe. So it’s a full time job!”
These young people are generously giving a year of their lives in service to others. Please consider a donation to support their work! Please make checks payable to PASSIONIST MISSIONARIES.
Passionist Missionaries Inc.
526 Monastery Place
Union City NJ 07087-3398
Tel: 888/806-6606
E-mail: DLisotta@cpprov.org
Donate on-line by clicking the button below.
The Donate Now button will redirect you to Caring Habits, Inc. (CHI) which is the credit card processing company for The Passionist Missionaries website. You can use the drop down menu to direct your donation to Passionist Volunteers International.
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