Olympic Flare Out

I thought I would take advantage of another beautiful day in Chicago(my last) and see something I have never seen before. Watching the news when I woke up, I saw that there was a rally going on in Daley Square, as thousands of people were watching the unveiling of the host city for the 2016 Olympic Games. I have heard over the past few months that Chicago had a pretty good chance at landing the Olympics in the U.S. again, and now with President Obama AND Oprah as liaisons for the Windy City, I figured it was in the bag. Oh, how wrong I was.

At 10:24 Chicago was officially eliminated from the possibility of having the Olympics in 2016. The disappointment and stunned attitude was something I have only witnessed when Aaron Boone launched a home run into the left field seats during the 13th inning of the 2003 ALCS. Shock was feeling being most emoted by the Chicagoans, and I had to sit back and take it in for a minute.

I watched the larger-than-life television screens give reasons for why Chicagoan should keep their heads up, and that the over four-year-long effort to bring the Games to Chicago didn't go wasted. I watched people actually cry over the announcement. WHAT??!?!?! That's right, CRY!

For a minute I thought that because of this decision and the reaction of the crowd, Chicago would no longer be heralded as one of the great cities in America. That Da Bears, Da Bulls, Da Cubs and Da Sox were leaving town. That the thin crust pizza was officially better than the deep dish. Common people. You lost, wait, not even lost. You just weren't chosen.

In my befuddlement of what I was seeing, I wondered whether the same reaction would be emoted if pictures of suffering children, women, and men of Chicago were flashed across the big screens. If people realized that over 17,000 people are homeless in the state of Illinois. My guess in probably not.

So let's be real. I am as much of a sports fan as there is, but there are so many larger issues in our country than "losing" the Olympics to a CONTINENT that has never hosted an Olympiad. Let's give some love to Rio de Janeiro and South America, and stop wallowing in our own ridiculous misery. There are better things to worry about.

Chicago

I am in the "Windy City" for a few volunteer fairs. I have been to DePaul University and Loyola University today, and tomorrow I head to the University of Notre Dame. Chicago is such a beautiful city, and I am glad to be here for an extended period of time.

We had a lot of interest at both fairs which is an encouraging sign the volunteering isn't on the back burner in these tough economic times.

That's it for now.

Peace.

A week of service...

Last week I was able to get to all three ministry sites and live the life of our volunteers. My journey took me to Francis House, St. Anthony's school, the St. Francis Inn, St. Benedict's Thrift Shop, St. Francis Urban Center, St. Paul's school, and Delaware Park. Each ministry is so different in job description, but the love and and energy put into them by the FVMs is out of this world. Here are some pictures from the trip, and of the FVMs in action.

Alum making movies

Check out FVM alum Katelyn Bagtaz narrating a video about the St. Francis Inn Ministries

St. Francis Inn Ministries Video

Summer is over...

Labor day marks the unofficial end of summer. Don't be mad at me, I'm just the messenger. It does however mark the beginning of a new school year for students, more alone time for stay-at-home parents, but more importantly, less free time for most of us. During the summer, many people take vacation to enjoy the warm weather, the beaches, and to see family. A lot of people also take time to volunteer because their schedules aren't as busy. Most students don't have classes, deadlines aren't as frequent due to summer recesses, and many educators aren't in their classrooms everyday.

The phrase, "time is money," is significant in our culture, especially in this economic hard-time we are facing as a collective nation. It is necessary to realize how important making money and saving for our futures, but also recognizing that our time is still valuable and needed in the volunteering world as well. If everybody who reads this blog could take some time and remember what it feels like after giving some of your time for others, the craziness of life now that summer is over might not be as tough to deal with. We should feel blessed that we have lives in which we have so many things going on at all times. Too many of the poor and marginalized wish they could have the opportunities and experiences we take for granted.

I challenge you all to take some time, even if it is just to say good morning to the beggar on the street, because really, our lives aren't THAT busy.

Sites of sites

Here are a few links to the different ministry host sites.

St. Francis Inn in Philadelphia, PA

St. Anthony of Padua in Camden, NJ

St. Paul's in Wilmington, DE

Check them out and see if you can find our FVMs in some pictures.

A little late...

Amanda Lengauer

Katelyn Bagtaz

Noé Granados

Amanda, Katelyn, Fr. Michael Duffy, ofm, and Noé

This post is late in it's publishing, but with the change of FVM Promoter, it got lost in transition. As our new volunteers begin their amazing journey (about 3 weeks into their ministries), I would like to take a step back and recognize on the blog, the FVMs who passed the torch to this year's group. The entire FVM program would like to graciously thank, and wish nothing but great things for Amanda Lengauer, Katelyn Bagtaz, and Noé Granados.

Although only three, this group ministered to countless numbers of people, and touched the heart of everyone they came in contact with. We now welcome them with open arms to the family of FVM alums.