NCYC 2025
Teens at NCYC view service as a way to ‘grow deeper’ in their faith
Volunteer Kelli Reutman of Catalyst Catholic in the New Albany Deanery, left, supervises Sela Kubiak of the Archdiocese of Detroit as she helps make a mat for the homeless by taking plastic bags and weaving them together. (Photo by Mike Krokos)
By Mike Krokos
While the interactive exhibit hall in the Indiana Convention Center has become a destination for National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) participants to buy merchandise, visit booths for information on vocations and to take time and have fun doing things like playing cornhole or singing, there is usually an opportunity for young people to serve their brothers and sisters in need.
This year was no different.
In a corner tucked away from the excitement at the center of the gathering area, four service projects were available for the teenagers and other attendees to take part in.
A theme of “transformed” was featured front and center in the service area, reminding participants that after receiving the Eucharist they are tasked to take the faith out into the world to serve others.
Ally Stechschulte, Georgia Hagen and Anna Honse, teens from the Diocese of Toledo, Ohio, signed slips of paper outside a Catholic Relief Services (CRS) booth, urging Congress to put money back into international aid programs that provide for the less fortunate. Those funds were cut earlier this year.
Laura Sheehan, archdiocesan Catholic Charities-Social Concerns special projects coordinator, was among the volunteers manning the CRS booth.
“We’re asking specifically for international aid to be restored to Catholic Relief Services so that they can continue to serve the poorest of the poor around the world,” she said.
CRS organizers set a lofty goal during the NCYC outreach, hoping to garner 10,000 signatures during the three-day gathering of faith.
Not far away, Hearts in Motion, an international, non-denomintational organization, was encouraging young people to make T-shirt bags to send medical supplies to Guatemala, where volunteers do much of their work.
Ava Washburn, Alexa Johnson and Kiera McNally, all high school juniors from the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa, were meticulous as they carefully cut shirts as part of the project.
“I like to help with community service-type things, and this is a good cause,” Ava explained.
Joe Hardesty of Evansville, Ind., a volunteer for Hearts in Motion, has been involved in the ministry for several years.
“I went on my first trip last summer with my two older sons, on a high school trip, and built one of the homes [in Guatemala], … and I just fell in love with it,” he said.
“We’re here today to educate the people, as well as to get the name out,” he added.
Benedictine Sister Kathleen Yeadon, a member of Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Beech Grove who works for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul food pantry in Indianapolis, asked attendees in another nearby area to take part in a food and security grocery challenge.
“They go through, they get a little story here, and then they try and make that budget work,” she explained, with each person given a specific money amount as they walk through and examine the prices of available groceries.
“It’s just that awareness of how difficult it is to shop for your family,” Sister Kathleen added.
In another area, Kelli Reutman supervised young people who were making mats for the homeless by taking plastic bags and weaving them together. The plastic yarn is known as “plarn.”
“I’m told it takes about 2,000 bags to make one mat, and about 10 hours of weaving,” explained Reutman, who works as associate director of evangelization for Catalyst Catholic in the New Albany Deanery, where she supports 16 parishes.
The initiative began at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in New Albany, and the mats are given to the homeless in southern Indiana and in Louisville, Ky.
Sela Kubiak, a senior from the Archdiocese of Detroit, was eager to take a few minutes to help with the weaving process.
“If we’re already going to be here to praise God and grow deeper in our faith, there’s no better way to do that than doing it through service,” she said.
A few feet away, Kayla Jacobs of Catholic Climate Covenant took the time to educate attendees about the impact of the environment on people who are experiencing homelessness.
Attendees, in turn, walked on a “pilgrimage” collecting items to place in a kit for those in need.
“They are more exposed to the elements, they have a higher chance of getting skin cancer [and] of having acute-related illnesses or strokes,” she said. “Our goal is to make 1,000 packets to donate locally for people who are experiencing homelessness that will include hydration packs, water bottles, food, blankets, wool socks, sunscreen … things that will help them bear the elements better.”
At the end of their pilgrimage, teens were encouraged to write a note for the homeless person who will receive a kit.
Grace Welch, a freshman from the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota, took several minutes to pen a letter.
“I feel, if I was homeless, this would help me get through the hard times,” she said. “Kindness and generosity are always very good. They really help people.” †
See more stories from the National Catholic Youth Conference here
