On Aug. 21, 15 young people began a year of service in three HNP communities — at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Camden, N.J., at St. Francis Inn in Philadelphia, and at St. Paul’s Church in Wilmington, Del. — through Franciscan Volunteer Ministry.
A mix of four alumni and 11 new FVMs — hailing from Massachusetts, Georgia, Washington and several other states in between — the number is larger than recent years (though not record-breaking).
“In the past, we have had 15 — and even 16 — FVMs,” said executive director Katie Sullivan. “We are incredibly excited about this year’s group.”
Camden
At St. Anthony of Padua, a team of four will be mentored by Hugh Macsherry, OFM. He is taking over for John C. Coughlin, OFM, who moved to Mt. Irenaeus Franciscan Mountain Retreat this summer.
The Camden volunteers are Rachel Carey of East Greenbush, N.Y., Alex Mancuso of Sayville, N.Y., FVM alumnus Chris McNabb of Bryn Mawr, Pa., and Aileen Shawcross of Alpharetta, Ga.
Philadelphia
St. Francis Inn, where friar-mentor Michael Duffy, OFM, serves as guardian of Juniper Friary and St. Francis Inn team member, will have the largest group of FVMs. The six volunteers are alumna Kelly Canning of Libertyville, Ill., Kevin Cilano of Rochester, N.Y., Justin Mambro of Hanover, Mass., Sheila Herlihy of North Royalton, Ohio, Katie Ross of Kirkland, Wash., and alumna Claire Wittmeier of Laurel, N.Y.
Wilmington
A team of five will be based at St. Paul’s Church in Wilmington, Del., where friar-mentor Christopher Posch, OFM, resides. They are alumna Dorothy DiMarino of North Royalton, Nicole Gagliardi of North Baldwin, N.Y., Yanil Rojas of Lawrence, Mass., Jeff Sved of Valencia, Pa., and Sarah Teetsel of Fulton, N.Y.
The FVMs are participating in an opening retreat this week at Loyola on the Potomac, a retreat house in Faulkner, Md.
— Rebecca Doel is communications coordinator for Holy Name Province.
Editor’s note: News and photos of the Franciscan Volunteer Ministry can be found on its Facebook page and its blog, love…lived in service. Future issues of this newsletter will include reports about the specific activities of volunteers.