Here is a little background.  I work at the Archdiocese of Saint Louis Mission Office. 

I’ve been working here since September 2004, so it was my first job straight out of college.  I have learned so much in these four years, and have enjoyed every minute of it along the way.  When I first started working here, I handled donation acknowledgments for all but two of our mission programs.  It was a great way for me to learn about the various programs of our office.  The following summer of 2005, I was asked to be the Coordinator for the Holy Childhood Association.  This was a new outlet for me to express my creativity (I love drawing, painting, graphics, and artwork), while at the same time being able to boost interest and involvement within our grade schools.  It would be a big job and take some time to develop, as we have over 100 grade schools in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis.  But, seeing how the HCA has grown within these past three years and seeing how our Saint Louis school children have lived out HCA’s motto of “Children Helping Children” has been really cool.  We have developed fun and informative mailings for our mission moderators (these are teachers who take on the task of bringing mission into their grade schools – there is at least one mission moderator for every grade school); we have presented workshops and presentations on the HCA; we have held an annual Holy Childhood Association Mass at the Old Cathedral in Downtown Saint Louis (the first one was held in October 2006); we have raised money and awareness about children in mission countries around the world; and we have featured our own students and their mission efforts on our Mission Office website.

 

Last year, we expanded our programs to include not only grade schools, but also colleges and high schools.  (Yes, in that order … we flipped it a bit!)  Thanks to Brother Fred Buerman, executive director of Hand of Help, and his talent for introducing people, we connected with the Catholic Student Center at Washington University (Wash U), and will soon connect with the Newman Center at the University of Missouri-Saint Louis (UMSL).  I am also hoping to form a connection for my office with the campus ministry department at Saint Louis University (SLU), beginning this coming school year.  As for our high schools, our office connected with the 30 high schools in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis last November, right in time for this past school year.  My mom has worked in the Secondary Department of the Catholic Education Office here in the archdiocese for nearly 20 years, so it was a fantastic link.  My boss and I were invited to present at an annual meeting for high school service moderators in November, and have since drawn a lot of interest from a few of the schools.  So, we are now involving children, teenagers, young adults, AND adults in mission!

 

In light of all these exciting changes within the past few years, my job duties have somewhat shifted.  I still handle some donation acknowledgments and I am still the Coordinator for the Holy Childhood Association.  But, I am now also involved with high school/college/young adult involvement; designs, promotions, and advertising for our Mission Office programs; and finally, maintaining our Mission Office website.  My, what an experience the whole website thing has been!  I have gone from knowing virtually nothing about websites to being trained in two different website content management systems (the software used to make changes, post text, and post photos online) – so I am now able to easily maintain our website, and it’s so much fun to invite all kinds of people from here in Saint Louis and from around the world to take part in it – whether it is sharing their own mission news and stories, submitting photos, or writing blogs.  Check it out!  www.stlmissions.org. 

 

So, this is somewhat how I’ve gotten to the point of being involved with Hand of Help.  I’ve known Brother Fred for a few years now, since he preaches here in Saint Louis for the Missionary Plan of Cooperation.  (Another awesome program that I’ve been fortunate enough to work with for our archdiocese.)  Last year, Brother Fred explained how he was in the process of rejuvenating the Hand of Help website and wished for everyone to come together via email, meetings, website, and blogs.  This past December, over a wonderful lunch with great company (a.k.a. Brother Fred and Kathy Taylor, another fellow Saint Louisan involved with Hand of Help), great conversation, and Saint Louis toasted ravioli, Brother Fred invited me to join Hand of Help’s website team.  And … the rest is history!  So, this brings me back to how I’m involved with Hand of Help and why I’m writing this blog in the first place – as well as getting the chance to meet and work with some really amazing people from all over the country that are part of the Hand of Help community.  (Thank you to all of you for welcoming me.)

 

I think that’s about it!  Thanks for allowing me to describe a little bit about what I do in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis Mission Office.  I am looking forward to sharing how Hand of Help is at work here in Saint Louis, as well as learning new things from our friends around the country who are also involved with Hand of Help!

 

Note: The Archive below features previous posts of Br. Fred Buerman, ob OSB.