Franciscan Mission Week

While most teenagers would probably rather spend their days off from school in any other number of ways, 25 students from three Catholic schools in the New York City-area recently used their time off from school to join seniors from Notre Dame Regional High School in constructing a Habitat for Humanity home.

Last week, Franciscan Mission Week, the students from New York returned a service favor for St. Anthony's, St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens and Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School in Brooklyn, N.Y. During the week the New York students slept at Notre Dame's multipurpose center.

"It's an incredible feeling," said Jonathan Licandro, a senior at St. Anthony's. "We have a great group of children here all willing to work hard and put in volunteer hours to make something beautiful like this happen."

That beautiful something is a home for Charlene Dalton and the two teenage granddaughters she is raising. Dalton said the area they now live in has seen violence in the past -- a problem she looks forward to avoiding when the family moves into their new home this summer.

Thank you to all the students who volunteered their time and efforts last week to help build a house for a deserving family. In your display of service, you have been a blessing to a family who will forever remember your acts of compassion.