Children Restore Old Building

April 28, 2003. Meriden, Connecticut

A group of children has been working a couple of days a month since January to restore a building at the motherhouse property of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist. The building, aftectionately named the Club House, will be used as a meeting and activity space for children in the summer experiences program and throughout the year for youth groups.

Enthusiasm runs high as these young people learn how to measure, cut and install insulation, nail boards in place and do all the tasks required in the project. Four adults supervise the work and teach the children the skills they need to accomplish the project.

During Holy Week, the club house became a focus for the group's participation in the mysteries of the week as they met and prayed together and reflected on the tasks at hand in relation to Christ's week of Passion, Death and Resurrection. The children prepared for and participated in the liturgy of each day with the Franciscan Sisters -- reading the Passion, helping with palms for Palm Sunday, praying the Stations of the Cross, and attending Mass each day.

On Easter, Mother Shaun Vergauwen, Vicar General, gave each member a "Club House Crew" t-shirt.