72 teens found homeless in Lancaster
Students raise over $5000 for PA and NY homeless
FDNY Chaplain remembered as teens experience homelessness by spending night outside in cardboard boxes
LANCASTER, PA – September 19, 2006 – Seventy-two teenagers spent Saturday evening, September 16, sleeping outside in a makeshift homeless village to raise money and awareness for the true plight of the homeless. Over $5,000 was raised and will benefit the homeless in Lancaster, Harrisburg, Philadelphia and New York City.
The village was built on the back parking lot of St. Leo the Great Catholic Church in Lancaster in memory of FDNY Chaplain, Father Mychal Judge, who was killed in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Students in “Mychal’s Village” slept in cardboard boxes and were given only water throughout the night in an effort to replicate some of the discomforts of homelessness.
Teens paid $9.11 to secure their spots in the village and also secured sponsors for the overnight stay. Sarah Konkolics of Blomsburg, PA, a home-schooled freshman, was recognized for obtaining the greatest number of sponsors and raising the most money, $1,740, for her night in Mychal’s Village.
A recap of the event follows:
After setting up their boxes in the village, teens headed inside the school gym to visit stations where they created packages of diapers for homeless babies and packages of school supplies for homeless students.
Mary Ellen Reitmeyer, St. Leo the Great Youth Ministry, kicked off the evening with an introduction, followed by a welcome from Sharon Hickey of Lancaster, PA and of Mychal’s Message, the non-profit organization that created and coordinated the event. Teens then welcomed hip-hop/rap recording artist, Bob Lesnefsky of Righteous B, Steubenville, OH. “Call me Righteous B,” Lesnefsky told the teens. Before long, he had them laughing, relaxed and ready to start their evening.
Father Michael Duffy of St. Francis Inn, Philadelphia, PA arrived in his brown Franciscan robe and shared personal stories of homeless men and women he’d met. “This is Nikki,” he told the teens, as he showed a large image of a young woman with dark hair and sad eyes. “Her mother had to make a choice between Nikki and her boyfriend,” Father Duffy explained, “and she chose her boyfriend.” He explained that Nikki had been on the streets since she was a young teen, until last year when she was found dead. He challenged the teens to look at their own lives and imagine what it would be like if their mother had chosen a boyfriend over them. “Are you emotionally stable enough today to handle that?” he asked them. “Is your faith strong enough? Are you strong enough?”
NYPD Detective Steven McDonald, longtime friend of Father Mychal Judge, held the teens’ full attention as he shared the tragic story of the day he was shot in Central Park in 1986 and how he came to know Father Mychal Judge. Ken Marzinko of the Lancaster Homeless Student Project, accepted a donation of school supplies for the Homeless Student Project and shared his stories to give teens a better appreciation for the life of a young homeless student. Rev. Scott Fischer from the Lancaster County Council of Churches was also on hand to accept a donation of canned goods, diapers and underwear.
“One of the most enjoyable aspects of the evening was the homeless friend project,” said Monica Mastropietro, a junior at Lancaster Catholic High School. The homeless friend project was developed to give participating students an opportunity to internalize homelessness. Divided into ten groups, teens were asked to choose a homeless friend (a stuffed mannequin), dress him, give him an identity and a story, and help him overcome an obstacle during the night. One group searched all through the village for five gold coins, which served as bail money to get their homeless friend out of jail. Another group searched for a pair of sneakers after their homeless friend’s were stolen while he was sleeping on a park bench.
Father Walter Guzman of St. Leo the Great Church celebrated a candlelight mass at midnight with music provided by Final Hour of Lancaster. Teens spent the remainder of the evening outside and gathered in the center of the village near Christ’s home, a cardboard box painted gold and adorned with white doves, glitter and flowers. On the outside of the door, around a large picture of Jesus, were the words, “Love One Another.” “As I have loved you,” were the words teens saw when the door was opened. Inside the box was a Star of Bethlehem, fully lit and hanging over a large crucifix with a basket of wheat and grapes to symbolize the sacrifice Christ made for all of us. “Sitting around the fire gave us time to bond,” said Shannon Hickey, founder of Mychal’s Message. “It gave us time to talk about what it would be like to be homeless.”
The event concluded in the morning as the teens walked on a Breadline for breakfast.
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This page was last updated on: October 22, 2006.
Mychal's Message, Inc. is registered as a charitable organization with the Department of State's Bureau of Charitable Organizations under the Solicitation of Funds for Charitable Purposes Act, 10 P.S. Section 16.2 et seq., and is authorized to solicit charitable contributions under the conditions and limitations set forth under the Act. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of State, Bureau of Charitable Organizations