LYNN — Local students are observing Holy Week by giving up their comforts to put themselves in the shoes of those less fortunate.
The annual Hunger for Justice is designed to help students understand the homeless experience. Founded in 1999 by Andrea Alberti, a campus ministry coordinator at St. Mary’s in Lynn, students fast from food, phones and their own bed for 36-hours, which concludes with a venture into Boston to work with the homeless.
“Your friends are at home watching Netflix and you’re here building character and virtue,” said Alberti to a crowd of student volunteers.
Equipped with a wooden cross for a a march along Nahant Road to St. Thomas Aquinas Church, the volunteers make their way to the St. Mary’s gymnasium where they set up their cardboard tent group sleepover.
“It’s definitely going to be awkward to begin with because not everyone knows each other in our groups but then after a couple of games, the movie we watch, and the little dance party we have everyone starts to get comfortable,” said St. Mary’s student Otis Mirbel who has volunteered four years in a row.
George Freeman, a junior at St. Mary’s High School, said he was most excited to learn the stories of the homeless individuals he would be spending the day with on Saturday. Aside from that, he was patiently awaiting the OK to eat food again.
“The first thing I’m going to do when this is over is probably order a bunch of Chinese food,” said Freeman.
Saturday, the students wake up at 7 a.m., and begin packing themselves onto the bus for Boston at around 9 a.m. They will spend a few hours working with homeless residents before meeting up at Park Street near Boston Common for more team building games. Then it’s back to Lynn to prepare for the Easter Vigil Mass at St. Mary’s on Sunday.
“The community here is so awesome, and just the experience of fasting for 36 hours and going into the city and seeing all the homeless people is just a great eye-opening experience,” said Pedro Olds, a sophomore at St. John’s Prep. “It just amazes me that a group like this can really make a big difference by stepping up and playing a part to help other people because if everyone did that then maybe our world would be in tip top shape.”
