Love Begins Here volunteers work at Iola garden
By Holly Neumann
Love Begins Here brought its mission to Iola during a week of work in Waupaca County.
St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church of Waupaca hosted this group of high school students from June 23-28.
The students were from the Diocese of Green Bay.
In Iola, they helped spruce up the Iola River Road Community Garden (IRRCG).
Love Begins Here is about youth serving people in the diocese in which they live.
It does so in the spirit of St. Teresa of Calcutta who served the poorest of the poor in India and encouraged those who want to do mission work to start at home.
“This mission began in the Diocese of Madison, and we brought it to the Diocese of Green Bay in 2017,” said Callie Kowalski, assistant director of Child and Youth Faith Formation.
This summer, five parishes throughout the diocese are hosting Love Begins Here with a core team of young adult leaders and adult chaperones.
“It is really all about local mission and serving those in need in our own backyard,” said Kowalski. “Mother Teresa emphasized in a visit to the United States that although our people might not be monetarily poor, they are very spiritually poor, so we try to bring Jesus to all those we serve.”
St. Mary Magdalene parish
Ashley Gordon is St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church’s coordinator of religious education and youth ministry.
She sought work sites and collaborated with IRRCG to arrange for a group of students to help there.
“We have been reaching out trying to inform our community and surrounding area that the IRRCG exists in our little village and is available to everyone,” said Sandi Schuettpelz. “Many of our area residents are unaware that we are here. The Waupaca Post attended our spring garden meeting and did an informational article for us to attract more gardeners and visitors.”
She said an Iola resident, who is a member of the Waupaca parish, read the article.
“She knew of the youth program and the struggles we were having at the garden and contacted me,” Schuettpelz said. “I presented an application stating that the garden was currently maintained by senior volunteers and they have a difficult time keeping up with the weeds, as our goal is to become a destination and a showcase for our village, but there is just not enough time or energy for us to reach our goals.”
The application was accepted.
Garden path
The project was to make a walking path from one end to the other and to place concrete stones with the letters of the alphabet engraved so children can walk the path and learn the alphabet.
Love Begins Here helped develop the idea even further.
There is now a second path for the numbers 1-10 for the children to learn, Schuettpelz said.
She is grateful for the group of young people who worked at the garden.
“They have brought a sense of hope that we will soon be reaching our goals of sharing this wonderful, peaceful, educational place with the world,” she said. “Their youthful energy, determination and positive attitudes have been a blessing to us. They have given us hope to complete our dream so that it will benefit our entire community and serve as an inspiration for others who will visit us.”