Teens to hold fundraiser at St. Patrick’s Parish Center

Teens from St. Patrick’s Youth and Young Adult Ministry will be holding a fundraiser at St. Patrick’s Parish Center across from the Cheyenne County Youth Center Feb. 23 in order to raise funds to go to the National Catholic Youth Ministry Conference this November.

The teens will be selling homemade baked goods, walking tacos and drinks in order to pay for some of the fees to send six teens and two adults to the conference, which will cost approximately $430 per person plus airfare.

The conference is held annually and this year will run from Nov. 21 through 24. Last year there were about 23,500 youths in attendance.

Pat Mertz, director of youth ministry at the Parish Center, said that the experience is great for the kids and an amazing wake up call to how many Catholic youths there are.

“We celebrate mass there in the stadium, which is kind of amazing to have mass with 20,000 people,” said Mertz. “The comment I always hear from the kids is how amazing it is to see that many other kids who are of the same faith. When we are sitting in the stadium and there’s 20,000 people they are just amazed by how many catholic young people there are and that’s amazing for one thing and it’s also encouraging.”

Mertz has been attending the conference since 1997 and said that the atmosphere and opportunities at the convention are great for the teens.

“It’s a really nice place because we meet as a big group in Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center is connected so it’s really handy.”

“When we are in the stadium we have sessions where we have speakers on different faith aspects and the music is so good. It’s so cool,” said Mertz.

The youth ministry director said that in addition to the big group sessions that the teens get to pick from numerous smaller sessions while they are there and that there are many to choose from -- just deciding on which one to go to is a daunting task.

“The workshops go all the way from things such as your personal spirituality and growth, to justice oriented workshops and looking at vocations. There’s just a broad array of things available for them,” she said.

There is also a room dedicated to fun activities as well as service projects, said Mertz.

“They always have somewhere in the convention center a huge room that has everything from games to service projects. You can work on live music too; it’s incredible,” she said.

She said that the games in the past have included slides, bounce houses and sumo wrestler outfits just to name a few, while the service projects can be very humbling.

“One year we actually got to put together the wall framing of a Habitat for Humanity house. They would take the walls out after and it was so cool because people were writing to the family on the studs because you weren’t going to see those when they are covered,” said Mertz. “It’s just one of the most creative places I’ve ever seen.”

The convention is sponsored by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry and is open to high school youth and advising adults.

“We get ready for it as a pilgrimage, not a crazy trip,” said Mertz.

Jake Peterson, one of the teens attending, said that he is eager for the trip and he thinks that seeing that amount of Catholic youths in one place will be “mind-boggling.”

“I’m pretty excited about it but I don’t really know what to expect. I want to meet a lot of new people who have the same faith that I do from around the country,” said Brian Rolls, another teen attending the conference.

“I am very excited. I think that I want to develop a close relationship with the other Catholics that are my age and kind of learn and see how they feel, and see if I can learn anything from them,” said Sara Von Seggern, another teen participant.

None of the three have been to the convention before but all said that they are excited for the adventure.

“They are very committed to fundraising and I think that shows a lot. Their parents have been so supportive and helpful with the fundraisers as well,” said Mertz.

The teens will be doing more fundraisers throughout the year, the next one being flower bulb sales April 6 and 7.