Blog Dated 9/1/08

Greetings,

My name is Gabe Hulsey and I am a member of the Hand of Help community!  I came to know Hand of Help in between my junior and senior years in high school, 12 years ago. The concept of Hand of Help originated at the high school I went to—Helias High School. Helias is a Christian Brothers School located in Jefferson City, the state capital of Missouri.

 I am originally, however, from Cape Girardeau, MO, a small town in Southeast Missouri located between Memphis, TN and St. Louis, MO. I attended Immaculate Conception Elementary School which is run by the School Sisters of Notre Dame. When we moved up to Jefferson City, I attended St. Peter’s Elementary School, also run by the School Sisters of Notre Dame and then Helias High School before moving on to attend St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN. St. John’s was founded and is run by the Benedictine monks. My reasoning for letting you know this is to illustrate how much of a profound impact Catholic religious societies have had on my life and continue to have on my life as I have entered the workforce, marriage and parenthood. Therefore, as I came to understand and appreciate Hand of Help, a Catholic mission society, it seemed a perfect fit to become more involved in the organization.   

Hand of Help has given me the opportunity to volunteer in Boston, MA at a local Aids shelter and volunteer for a week with my girlfriend (now wife) in Tijuana, Mexico at an orphanage for kids 1-5 years old. Hand of Help now offers me a chance, as I sit on the legal board, to offer these kinds of volunteer opportunities to a wide range of young people throughout the country. We are constantly evolving, trying to find the right spot for the vision that is Hand of Help and the needs of the groups we serve; most notably Mission Offices and Campus Ministries.

I currently live in Jefferson City and I am now married to my wife of six (6) years! I work at a local bank as the Electronic Banking Manager. Essentially this allows me to play with toys all day! My world, however, as been consumed over the last two (2) months since we have had a little baby girl named Emma Caroline! For me the joys of marriage are wonderful and fulfilling, but to add the joys of parenthood has been an experience that I cannot put into words. It has been a tremendous experience to share her with family and friends, to stay up with her when she is fussy and to watch her as she sleeps. It’s like the current song from George Straight … “I’ve seen God today”… and I sure believe I have!!

Until next time!

All the best,

Gabe