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Stanners Participate in Service Trip to Belize

Stanners Participate in Service Trip to Belize

From December 4th-10th, eight students accompanied Campus Ministers Mr. Richard Costa and Mr. Matthew Corrado, along with Director of Sustainability of U.S. Marist schools Mr. Sam King, on an international service trip to Belize! Kristen Mussalli ‘25, Audrey Ward ‘25, Ismael Minchala ‘25, Jernae Castle ‘25, Vanessa Guilfoyle ‘26, Esme Kerr ‘25, Jillian Kahn ‘26, and Juliana O’Keeffe ‘26 traveled to Placencia, Belize to learn about the ecological systems in the area and help with various service projects.

Molloy teamed up with Bold Hope, an Christian organization that connects people from around the world to help engage in service projects. Mr. Costa worked with Bold Hope to plan the trip to Belize and incorporate ecological learning opportunities throughout it to align with the Marist US Province’s focus on taking care of our planet. Mr. Costa, Mr. Corrado, and Mr. King brought our student volunteers to local farms where they took tours and learned about climate change’s effects on planting seasons. Students were also brought to a bee farmer to learn about the importance of bees to pollinate crops, and also participated in beach clean ups. Mr. King shares, “I hope this experience inspired students to fall in love with creation and become advocates for ecological justice in their communities.”

Our students also spent the week helping to complete service projects for the people in the Placencia community. The group helped a primary school build an outdoor assembly area and also helped put up a fence around a church. Esme says working at the school was most impactful to her, because while working, “unexpectedly children came up to us and started giving us hugs and high fives, and it just showed us how welcoming and inviting everyone is.” Jernae noticed that the children and Belizeans “were so connected to nature and the world around them, impacting us to spend the least amount of time on our phones we could.” Juliana said all eight Stanners grew as people because of this trip, becoming more compassionate, grateful, and aware of global challenges. Mr. Costa noted, “Yes, these eight students encountered the Belizeans, but they also encountered each other.”