ACTS OF KINDNESS
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Archbishop Molloy High School students
give back to the Briarwood community
Archbishop Molloy High School student volunteers with Brian Klimas. Courtesy of St. Marcellin Champagnat Society
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Student volunteers at
a local Briarwood high
school spent their winter
break doing good for
fellow Queens residents.
Members of the St.
Marcellin Champagnat
Society (SMCS) at
Archbishop Molloy High
School volunteered at the
Ronald McDonald House
of Little Neck and the
Commonpoint Queens
Food Pantry in Forest
Hills on Feb. 17 and 19.
According to society
volunteer, teacher and
Molloy alum Brian
Klimas, about 25 students
participated in both of the
events in February. On
Sunday, Feb. 17, students
took a trip to the Ronald
McDonald House, where
they had the opportunity
to cook and serve brunch
to families whose children
are patients at the nearby
hospital.
Klimas said that about
11 students took a tour
of the facilities and then
made the parents a buffet
including eggs, bacon,
sausage, toast and bagels.
For their second trip,
Klimas accompanied
the students to the
Commonpoint Queens
Food Pantry on Feb. 19,
where volunteers were
responsible for packing
assorted vegetables for
needy residents. Students
packed the vegetables in
smaller bags, fulfilling
orders received online
and assisting residents
with order pickups.
“The kids loved it.
They had been there
before and they seemed to
get a lot out of it,” Klimas
said. “It makes it effective
The following is a list of places the
SCMC members have been:
• Nicaragua with Mustard Seed
• Peru
• Dominican Republic with Mustard Seed
• Jamaica with Mustard Seed
• Big Sur with Rustic Pathways
• Dakotas on an Native American reservation
• Boston with Habitat for Humanity
• New Orleans with Habitat for Humanity
• Arizona through Border Links
• Costa Rica through Rustic Pathways
• Rockaway Beach/ Breezy Point x2 after Hurricane
Sandy with Operation Blessing
to see the difference
volunteering is doing.”
Fellow teacher
volunteer and alum
Sabina Kobinski
shared that one of
the components of
every volunteer
trip is interaction
with members of
the community.
“It’s important for
students to have that
human interaction,”
Kobinski said. “When
they see that some
people don’t have food
on the table, it puts their
lives into perspective.”
The SMCS
originated in Lourdes,
France, based on the
tenants of St. Marcellin
Champagnat, the
founder of the Marist
Brothers. Molloy
educators Christopher
Dougherty and Brother
Pat Hogan founded the
school’s chapter of the
society in 2005.
“Brother Pat and I
first hatched the idea
in the late ’90s and 9/11
put all of that on hold.
After my Molloy trip to
Italy in Easter 2004, he
felt it was time to try
again. So in fall ’04,
we started researching
and planning and
then the first trip
ever was Lourdes
in summer 2005,”
Dougherty said.
Every few years
students and teachers
in SMCS take a
weeklong trip to
Lourdes which involves
helping visitors bathe
in Lourdes’ healing
waters and a visit to
the Marist Brothers’
hermitage. Klimas said
that students are set
to make the visit this
summer.
Students in the
society also get the
opportunity to travel
abroad for volunteer
work.
Kobinski observed
that the volunteer trips
“molds students for
the rest of their lives,”
and some opt to pursue
careers in special
education, speech
pathology and other
service-oriented fields.
TIMESLEDGER,QNS.COM BT FT TL MARCH 22-28, 2019 5
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