St. Ambrose University-Davenport students Ellie and Jaxson pick up trash in Memphis, Tenn., as part of a “Care for Creation” service trip with Living Land and Waters earlier this spring.
By Anne Marie Amacher
The Catholic Messenger
DAVENPORT — Instead of heading to a beach or sightseeing during their spring break, a number of students from St. Ambrose University embarked on service trips earlier this spring.
Tammy Norcross-Reitzler, director of campus ministry at St. Ambrose, said they offered three trip options this year. Twenty-three students, alumni and staff served in Global Brigade in Panama. Nicky Gant, service and justice coordinator for campus ministry, said domestically a group led by her worked at Mission of Our Lady of the Angel’s near Humboldt Park on Chicago’s West side. Father Dale Mallory, chaplain, led a group of nine to Memphis to “Care for Creation” by helping to clean up the Mississippi River with Living Lands & Waters based out of the Quad Cities.
Panama
Paige Owens, a junior elementary education major with endorsements in social studies and middle school science, chose to go with Global Bridges as she saw an opportunity to “make a meaningful difference in a community in need. The community we served did not have access to many of the basic services we often take for granted,” she said. Examples are running water, consistent healthcare and proper sanitation.
The DeWitt native and member of St. Joseph Parish there said the week was centered on service. “We began by surveying a community on topics related to sexual and reproductive health. Using the results, we were able to identify needs and propose practical solutions to improve education and access to care.”
One group spend three days at medical clinics in two communities. The St. Ambrose group helped triage patients, support dental care, assist with access to physicians and participate in an interactive workshop focused on water treatment and sanitation, among other efforts, she noted.
One of the final projects, Owens said, was to begin construction on a water tank for the local school so they could access clean water.
Each evening closed with personal reflection, time to process the experience and the impact of their work.
One highlight for her was “witnessing both the group and myself grow each day.” The warmth, kindness and genuine gratitude — along with the smiles of community members — will stick with her.
Humbolt Park
Diego Chavez Gomez, a freshmen with an undecided major, felt “a calling from God that I should go to serve others.”
“As volunteers, we act as the hands and feet of Jesus, manifesting God’s presence by serving with a willing heart, offering love and providing help for others,” he said.
A member of St. Anthony Parish in Davenport, he said when the group first arrived In Chicago, “we helped in the food pantry by preparing bags of food for the elderly and giving out specific food items to those in need.” Besides the food pantry, the group volunteered at the local YMCA where they helped take care of kids. They also volunteered in a program for the elderly by participating in Bible study and serving them lunch. After the program, he said, they went to the convent to help clean. There was free time to explore Chicago.
“The biggest highlight for me was when we were taking care of the kids at the YMCA. I got along with them very well and especially to those kids who spoke Spanish, I was able to use my first language to communicate with them and have a greater time connecting with them.”
Memphis
Andrew Barry, a second-year student studying exercise science on a pre-physical therapy track felt a calling to attend a service trip. The Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport member chose this trip “specifically because I was able to take a step back and observe the natural world we live in every day and see the effects our trash usage has.”
The St. Ambrose group joined four other universities to pick up trash dumped into or thrown in the Mississippi River. The 6 ½ hour days involved bagging trash and hauling large items from the river. “Over the four days of work, our five groups picked up a combined 40,000-plus pounds of trash,” Barry said.
He enjoyed working with “passionate youths trying to learn how to serve our community and world better. We all were able to individually learn unique lessons from this trip about how to take passion and turn it into service and help others.”
Working with Chad Pregracke, founder of Living Lands and Waters and a Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award winner, was enlightening. “I believe his work is some of the most noble work of someone I have ever met. He continually lives out his life purpose by finding problems and continuing to try and find potential solutions for them. He wants to see the freshwater on Earth remain in a cleaner state,” he said. Barry noted that Pregracke and his volunteers have cleared out more than 14,000,000 pounds of trash from the Mississippi.
Ellie Seberger, a junior public relations and communications major with a minor in digital media production, said the work she did was her highlight. “We went to different islands/banks along the Mississippi and picked up thousands of pounds of trash. It was really rewarding to get our hands dirty and clean up God’s creation.” She noted “our Earth is suffocating from pollution in the water.”
A native of Marshalltown, Iowa, and member of St. Francis of Assisi Parish there, she said Pregracke told the students to find something in their lives they were passionate about and do something about it. “It was very empowering. He is a very passionate guy, which made it hard not to be passionate ourselves.”
Jayden Ambrose, a senior exercise science major on the pre-physician assistant track, wanted to give back to the community. A native of Channohon, Illinois, she said she learned about Pregracke’s organization at the 2024 Pacem in Terris ceremony. “It got me interested in his mission. I knew that I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself by volunteering with Chad and his team.”
After going over safety and other important notes each day, they pulled trash out of the river. “We would go to about four locations per day, and would leave with huge piles of trash that we had collected. At the end of each day, we would transfer all of the bags from the boats to a massive trash pile on the barge to eventually get sorted.”
“I really love Chad’s work and the message he spreads,” she said.
