By David Eck

ST. MARYS DEANERY — Most Girl Scouts working on their Gold Award do community service projects close to home, but a group of girls from Holy Redeemer Parish in New Bremen helped a community 2,300 miles away.

The five girls and five leaders spent nearly a week on the island of Grenada last month, with each girl taking charge of a project to help students and parishioners there.

"All five of them are Girl Scouts and they were working on their Gold Award projects," said Robin Goettemoeller, coordinator of youth ministry, who went on the trip. "It was all more education and evangelization based."

COURTESY PHOTO

Morgan Fair, left, and Megan McClurg read to students at a school in Grenada.

Sarah Kaiser, 15, a sophomore at New Bremen High School, collected used vestments, tabernacles, chalices and other items for churches that were damaged in hurricanes Ivan and Emily.

With help from Goettemoeller and Deacon Greg Bornhorst, she emailed parishes asking for used items, and was overwhelmed with the response. Churches from Northern Kentucky to New Bremen offered items. Kaiser and her mother spent one day driving to Cincinnati picking things up.

"I just thought that would be fun because I’m involved in the church," Kaiser said. "I got calls and emails from everywhere. It was a pretty wide base."

A final project was conducting a retreat to give church leaders the tools to establish youth ministry in the parishes.

Over 1,000 pounds of items were collected for those on the island, Goettemoeller said.

"They were just so welcoming to us and so thankful for what we brought to them," she said. "They will give you what you have. These people live in squalor compared to what we live in."

The New Bremen students were surprised by the primitive conditions at the schools but awed by the dedication of the students there.

"They are there because they want an education," Goettemoeller said. "They are very serious about their schoolwork."

The trip also gave the local kids a new appreciation for the simple things, like warm water.

"They don’t think anything of it because it’s so expensive to heat the water," Kaiser said. "At first we were all freaked out about it...but after a while it didn’t seem so bad."

The girls were able to see firsthand the difference their effort made. What seemed like such a small thing to them was significant to those in Grenada.

"It was just great to see that it changed them in some way and that I was able to change someone’s life," Kaiser said. "It was just such a small thing to do for one person."

The trip also made a lasting impression on Morgan Fair, 15, who spent about five months collecting school supplies and book bags for the students in Grenada.

"I’m a lot more thankful for everything that I have," Fair said. "One thing I really noticed about them is that even though they are very poor, they are very happy and thankful people."

Parishioners in Grenada have an established mission with Holy Redeemer and had been asking for some help with youth ministry. Goettemoeller tied in that request with the girls’ Gold Award projects.

The group raised money for about a year to fund the trip doing such things as bake sales, selling bottled water and recycling.

The parish supported them and gave the a joyous sendoff as they began the first leg of their journey. Holy Redeemer parishioners were excited to see their students go overseas and evangelize.

"Our church was excessively supportive," Goettemoeller said. "The support from the parish was phenomenal."