HAGERSTOWN – The middle school students from St. Ann in Hagerstown appeared skeptical as Ernie Giancola, chapter president of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, outlined their ambitious task: building 30 beds from scratch – sanding, pounding, drilling, staining and branding – through an assembly line he likened to a bustling train station.
Yet, within moments, all doubts faded, replaced by the rapid rhythm of whirring power tools and the steady sound of hammers striking wood. The group eagerly dove into the March 8 assignment, working in sync with one goal: building beds for Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a nonprofit with the mission, “No Kid Sleeps on the Floor.”
“It smells bad,” Maura Britton, 13, commented as she stood, dressed in a clear poncho, pushing bed boards deep into a vat of vinegar stain – a natural bedbug deterrent. Nearby, Emily Notabartolo, 17, focused on her task, tapping divots into boards.
“I do appreciate how organized it is. It is very beginner-friendly,” Notabartolo said. “Even if you never picked up a hammer before, they will teach you everything you need to know.”
While there were 22 middle-schoolers, four high school mentors and 14 adults – a total of 40 people – at the bed build in Hagerstown, another 35 middle schoolers, high school mentors and adults from St. Timothy in Walkersville and St. John in Frederick made beds at the Sleep in Heavenly Peace chapter in Frederick.
Both groups were participating in Just Mercy, a daylong retreat for middle schoolers held in conjunction with the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s “Rise Up, Have Mercy” middle school day in Randallstown.
“We’ve been attending Rise Up for several years but realized we were spending a lot of time and money on travel,” said Marissa Paoletti, director of evangelization at St. Timothy. “We were hoping maybe this could be a way for us to gather as an archdiocese but serve in our community.”
Once the bed project was completed, the groups from Hagerstown and Frederick came together at St. Ann, where they played games to break the ice before engaging in a discussion about the morning activities.
“Justice and mercy go hand-in-hand,” Paoletti said, as she addressed the group. “Some things are not fair. We must work for justice.”
She explained the social justice principle of “see, judge, act,” noting that the groups had helped with the act. While the founders of the nonprofit Sleep in Heavenly Peace saw the need and judged/examined the way, the students were able to help by creating the beds.
“By helping them, they helped us,” Paoletti said. “We learned new skills; it helped our social life and helped us build a better relationship with God.”
The students then participated in a simulation where they were divided into small family groups with different roles and tasked with surviving three weeks on a limited budget to cover a variety of expenses from mortgage payments to gas for transportation to medical bills.
“It makes them think about how other people have to live,” said Linda Brady, whose grandson participated in the event, as she watched the commotion. “I like that it has all the aspects.”
The retreat ended with Mass celebrated at St. Ann.
In Randallstown, 50 middle school students hailing from St Ursula in Parkville, Our Lady of Victory in Arbutus, St Joseph’s Monastery in Baltimore, Sacred Heart in Glyndon, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Ellicott City, the Pastorate of St. Louis in Clarksville and St. Francis of Assisi in Fulton, Holy Family in Randallstown, Catholic Community of South Baltimore, St. Agnes in Catonsville, St. Joseph in Odenton and the Pastorate of Our Lady of Sorrows in Owensville and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Edgewater attended the event which began with Mass celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Bruce A. Lewandowski, C.Ss.R.
The students then created blessing bags containing snacks, socks, a prayer card, a rosary and a handwritten, unsigned note that they then took home.
“Tell your family all about them and you are going to put them in the car,” Stacy Golden, archdiocesan director of Family, Youth and Young Adult ministries within the Institute for Evangelization, told the students. “When you see somebody in need, you are going to stop and give them a bag.”
The restructured event, from one large event to two, Golden hopes, will inspire parishes to do their own regional events with support from the archdiocese.
“For many of these young people, they love retreats, they love getting out, participating and being Catholic, doing Catholic, not just talking Catholic,” Paoletti said. “They feel useful. They know that they are contributing. They are doing something that matters. They are engaged and happy.”
Mitzy Deras and Kevin Parks contributed to this story.
Email Katie V. Jones at kjones@CatholicReview.org.
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