St. Vincent de Paul National Assembly
This past weekend, 16 members of the St. Anne Youth Conference of St. Vincent de Paul headed to Tampa to participate in the National Assembly. The Middle School and High School students were so excited to have the opportunity to meet other youth conferences, stay in the Marriot Waterside hotel, participate in service projects, and much more!
On Friday, our first task was to board a bus and head to South Pinellas SVdP to assist in their lunch meal service to the homeless and cleaning up the children's playground they have there. The kids did an AMAZING job. We received countless compliments on their energy and enthusiasm to help and the kids themselves offered to come back to help again soon. When we were reflecting upon the experience, one of our St. Anne students said, "I saw a man there who has nothing. All he had was the clothes on his back and a cup of water, but he was happy. I kept wondering to myself... how could this man be so happy, he has NOTHING?! But, then I realized, he was happy because he was no longer alone. It made me grateful for all of the blessings I have and to start focusing more on the good in what I do have instead of complaining about what I don't have".
Once everyone had eaten some lunch, we got back on the bus and headed to Fort DeSoto beach. We are beyond grateful that Fr. Glenn joined us for a quick prayer service before allowing the kids a few minutes to dip their toes (or in the boys case... jump in the ocean in their clothes!) before heading back to the hotel to prepare for a workshop and dinner.
When everyone returned to the hotel, we attended a Youth Video Conference call. This call consisted of Youth Vincentian's from all over the WORLD. Everyone got a chance to share what they love about being a part of SVdP, what social issues effect their country, service projects they are working on, and more. There was a translator present to make sure we all were able to communicate with each other. It was a very cool and humbling experience and everyone felt part of a bigger purpose and mission.
Our last event on Friday was dinner and dancing aboard the Yacht Starship. Gray skies had us all worried, but that didn't last long! We had a great dinner, the kids danced up a storm with each other and adult Vincentian's from all over, and made memories and bonds that will last a lifetime.
We headed back to the hotel and because 16 teenagers are always hungry, ordered pizza, spent some time chatting by the pool, and headed to bed to prepare for another full day of growing, serving, and learning.
Saturday morning started with workshop sessions lead by Sr. Teresa Daly, the Formation Director for our region. Sr. Teresa taught everyone about some young Saints who were Vincentian's first. Our very own kids got to act out their stories. Following the workshop, we all had some time to relax, brainstorm ways to impact our own communities, envision how we would like the Youth Conference of St. Anne to operate. We said a rosary together for our prayer intentions and for the homeless we served the day prior, ate lunch, and took a quick trip to the Florida Aquarium to spend a little more time creating memories and bonding with each other.
Our trip concluded with the Installation Mass of the new SVdP President and a banquet dinner where the student's got a chance to meet MANY adult Vicentian's. I am so proud to say that the feedback about our youth was phenomenal. We are so grateful to Fr. John, Isabel Darcy, and Bill Hennrich for making it a priority that the student's should attend this event. It is truly an experience that none of us will ever forget and we are so grateful to have been given the opportunity to represent the FIRST Young Vincentian Conference in our Diocese!
