Margaret’s Weekly Emails

Margaret’s Weekly Email

As I previewed last week, I have spent the past few days visiting people and parishes west of Richmond, specifically Abingdon, Blacksburg, Bristol, Radford, and Roanoke. While I often plan a trip down 64 West and 81 South in the summer, this time it happened to coincide with our Diocesan Work Camp. Each summer, the Diocese’s Office of Evangelization organizes this transformative and impactful weeklong camp experience for rising 9^th through 12^th graders, during which they help our brothers and sisters in need by making their homes warmer, safer, and drier while growing in their Catholic faith.

This year, there were 17 work sites around Abingdon, Bristol, and Damascus, and the work included building decks, replacing flooring, and some Hurricane Helene relief. The 3 sites I visited also included replacing rotting, unsafe wooden steps and ramps, and house painting. In my brief visits, I encountered hot but happy kids and adults, all of whom were happy to pose for a picture! Here’s just one:

Twenty-seven parishes — big, small, and tiny — sent kids, adult chaperones, and volunteers. Here is a breakdown: 121 campers, 28 adult chaperones, 24 contractors, and 57 staff/priests/seminarians/volunteers. The parish with the most attending campers was St. Benedict in Richmond with 23.

The fact is, however, that each of you who supports the Annual Diocesan Appeal is involved in Work Camp, because it is one of the programs supported by the Appeal. So THANK YOU for helping those in need and giving our youth this invaluable life experience!

God Bless,

Margaret

Margaret Keightley
Executive Director
Catholic Community Foundation of the Diocese of Richmond

P.S. Here is the link to make a gift to the Annual Diocesan Appeal if you have not done so already, or perhaps you are moved to give again (that’s allowed!) https://richmondcatholicfoundation.org/appeal/. Again, thank you for your support!

***Archived Weekly Emails***