Contacts & Publisher

Subscription Form

Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2010 /  Learning how to Be the Difference

by Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published April 30, 2010

METRO AREA — The T-shirts donned by hundreds of students at Bishop Foley High School, Madison Heights, had 19 reminders of why they had a day out of class last Friday.

The T-shirts featured images of Jesus, Anne Frank, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., and other people known for making a difference. And that was the reason behind Be the Difference Day at Bishop Foley, to get students out of the classroom and volunteering at sites around their school and beyond.

"I decided that we had an opportunity and an obligation to be able to give back, and to take our baptismal mission seriously to be of service, following the example of Christ," said Bishop Foley president Fr. Gerry LeBoeuf, who is also pastor of Guardian Angels Parish. He told his students they'd have a day out of school, and they started cheering — until he clarified that it didn't mean a day off.

From then, he contacted nearly 20 agencies throughout metro Detroit, and student leaders organized the 591 sixth- through 12-graders at Bishop Foley and Guardian Angels to a specific location. With each student performing five hours of community service, that makes for 2,955 hours of serving others in one day, he pointed out.

Every student got a T-shirt with those 19 faces on it, which says at the bottom: "Their lives made a difference. How will yours?" "What will I do to have my face join that mosaic some day?" Fr. LeBoeuf said.

Among the agencies students were serving were Habitat for Humanity in Pontiac, senior centers in Troy, the Salvation Army in Royal Oak, several soup kitchens in Detroit, parks and recreation departments in Madison Heights and Clawson, and others. Students didn't get to pick their place of service, although student leaders tried to put their peers in a good fit for them based on their skills.

"I told them at our pep rally, you're working exactly where the Holy Spirit wants you to be," Fr. LeBoeuf said. "He wants you there for a reason."

Students donned shirts in red, white and blue in memory of Marisa LaRocca, a Bishop Foley campus minister who recently passed away, as those were her favorite colors. "The kids have really gotten on board with this," Fr. LeBoeuf said. "I have not heard a single kid complain about where they're going."

Younger grade school children at Guardian Angels also participated in the Be the Difference Day, working on projects for seniors or collecting supplies for animals in shelters.

Even before the students departed for their volunteering stints, Matt Sheehan, a student leader who helped with the organization, said he "can feel the excitement in the air."

Fellow student leader Emily VanFleteren said while service is important to their Catholic faith, "Everyone should do it, not just if you're Catholic."

Students at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Detroit, were busy washing kneelers, cleaning out the gym bleachers, and dusting, among other tasks. Parent Mike O'Neil was one of many to take the day off work to drive students around, and also to help out. "It's a worthy cause," he said, "giving back to the community."

At St. Patrick Senior Center, Detroit, students helped to get things ready for the parish festival that weekend by preparing food and moving furniture. Senior Rachel Reichenbach said that if they wouldn't have helped with seasoning pieces of chicken, one person would have had to do it all, without any help. "Now we can help her take a break," she said.

"It feels good to help other people," agreed sophomore Erin Mullen.

Exchange student Jee Yeon Kim was nervous about volunteering, as she's still perfecting her English, but was happy to work in the kitchen. "It was nice," she said. "I enjoyed it."

Joanne Molnar, Bishop Foley's principal, said parents were volunteering for a Be the Difference Day next year by the end of this year's event. "Many students came back and were exhausted," she said. "I heard parents the next day say to me that their students were in bed by 10 that night!"

At the high school, students worked all day to erect crosses on the property for Right to Life, representing babies lost to abortion. At Mary's Mantle, a home for unwed mothers, students cleaned and assembled baby furniture. And at Lighthouse in Pontiac, passers-by honked and gave the thumbs-up signal to students working outside.