A Jesuit Volunteer In Baltimore: Tom O'Keefe

Last Thursday, after moving my things into the Baltimore JV House in Charles Village, getting a tour of Cristo Rey Jesuit Baltimore, and riding a Duck Boat around Baltimore, I hugged my family goodbye at BWI Airport and joined 90 other JVC East JV’s and staff at Bellarmine Retreat Center in Blue Ridge Summit, PA for Orientation. The picturesque, rural Pennsylvania setting was a perfect meeting place for such a vibrant, excited, and nervous group of young people beginning a year of service promising to “ruin” us “for life”.

As I met the different people there, it became apparent that, though we were all from different places in the US and beyond, attended colleges in different locales, and came from differing backgrounds, we were all good people with a real sense of purpose and love for what we were doing.

We introduced ourselves to one another and learned about our different placements. There were nine Gonzaga graduates from the west coast, a few Holy Cross graduates familiar with Worcester, a Providence graduate from New Jersey who knew some friends from home and Villanova, a communication major working in legal services, and, in my case, a Villanova graduate rooming with a St. Joseph’s University (PA) graduate (*GASP!*). The retreat was a truly amazing way for so many selfless, energetic, and absolutely amazing people to come together.

Link (here) to the full post by Tom O'Keefe, his blog is entitled Volunteacher