By Clare Marie Celano
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – A local youth group ministry has taken the initiative to make things better for young people in their community.
The St. Robert Bellarmine Youth Group, Freehold Township, has created a program its members call School Supplies for Scholars.
The young people have collected and delivered school supplies to the Freehold Borough K-8 School District and to the Freehold Township K-8 School District. The youth group also collected and donated items of clothing items to children in need in the Freehold Borough schools.
Jeanne Marinello of Freehold Township is the coordinator of the youth group that includes students in the eighth through 12th grades. Marinello is a substitute teacher in the Freehold Township schools.
The 40 members of the youth group meet every other Sunday at the St. Robert Bellarmine Parish Hall. Marinello said Lexi Santitoro, 16, a junior at Freehold Township High School, is the group’s community affairs director and researches and coordinates community service projects.
“Lexi and the majority of our members went to school in the Freehold Township and Freehold Borough school systems,” Marinello said. “Lexi remembered there were many students who did not have adequate supplies and who sometimes had to do without or borrow school supplies.
“As a substitute teacher in Freehold Township, I often see teachers paying for supplies out of their own pocket. Out of our shared experiences came the program Lexi named the St. Robert Bellarmine Youth Group Supplies for Scholars and it has been very successful so far.”
Marinello said the young people collected school supplies in September and October.
Monsignor Sam A. Sirianni, who leads parishioners at St. Robert Bellarmine Roman Catholic Church, said he is very proud of the church’s youth ministry.
“Our young people are very involved in the life of our church and that involvement calls for service,” the monsignor said. “I am very pleased with the program that sees our young people helping other young people in education. They are doing a great job and working hard. I am very proud of the whole parish which has rallied around our youth ministry.”
Marinello contacted Neal Dickstein, the assistant superintendent of schools in Freehold Township, and Rocco Tomazic, the superintendent of schools in Freehold Borough, to offer the youth group’s assistance in collecting school supplies.
Dickstein welcomed the assistance, saying, “It was a very meaningful project as our former students who are involved in the youth group give back to the students in the school district they attended. The donations were very much appreciated and will be put to good use.”
Tomazic said he was very grateful for the donations that were provided by the youth group.
“Not only did they gather school supplies and items that can be used by our students, they also collected adult clothing for our school families in need,” he said. “Their generosity and caring attitude was an inspiration to us. We look forward to the time when they can come and interact directly with our students.”
“We will continue to work with the Freehold Borough school system throughout the school year,” Marinello said. “We want to give back to the school systems that built our youth group and give them all they need to be successful.
“If you can get kids involved in community service at a young age, it becomes second nature to them when they are out in the world as adults. This program allows our kids to help other kids they already know in their community. It is a great thing they are doing,” she said.
Church parishioners and the parents of the youth group members contributed school supplies to the collection effort.
“The youth group is a spiritual and community minded group,” Marinello said, adding that its members helped a young township resident who was battling cancer a few years ago by running a bake sale to raise funds for the child’s medical bills.
The youth group’s members are collecting toiletries for Linkages in Tinton Falls, which provides transitional housing and is run by Catholic Charities, according to Marinello.
“I want our kids to leave a legacy, like a footprint, from the good works they do,” she said. “I want them to focus on doing great things as they grow. … It is refreshing to be part of a program where our youth want to serve and spend their time to research community service programs and put them into practice.
“They share their faith and talents in many ways and rise to every occasion. It warms my heart to see them doing altruistic things in their community. If we have had some small part in this, I am happy we planted the seed. This is the proving ground for their leadership skills and it is a great feeling to see them giving back. It has been wonderful to see them grow and bloom,” Marinello said of the young people with whom she works.