Staff members from the Center for Graduate and Continuing Studies held a Party With a Purpose over the summer to raise money for Centro Fe Y Alegria Espiritu Santo in the Dominican Republic. From left to right: Carol Taylor, Roxanne Knott-Kuczborski, Sister Pat Stringer, O.P., Vilma Mueller, Lynn Peluso, Sister Lena Picillo, O.P. , Lisa DiBisceglie and Peg Johnston. |
Caldwell College Staffers Provide the Gift of Water (and so much more!) to Children in Rural Dominican Republic
Individual staff members from the Caldwell College Center for Graduate and Continuing Studies have rallied together and raised nearly $6,000.00 for a school in the Dominican Republic that is run by Sister Pat Stringer, a Sister of St. Dominic of Caldwell and former Assistant Dean of Students and Math Professor at the College. The funds raised will go towards the purchase of a connection to bring water to the children and the staff at Centro Fe Y Alegria Espiritu Santo.
Admissions Counselor/Recruiter Vilma Mueller of West Orange, NJ has been the driving force behind the project. It all started last March when Mueller was making last minute plans to visit her mother in the Dominican Republic over Spring Break. Mueller had heard that a Caldwell Dominican sister was in ministry in a school for children in a rural village in the D.R. While visiting her native Dominican Republic, Mueller and her sister-in-law took the drive out to the remote area of Bani, which is an hour and a half west of Santo Dominigo. There, she met Sister Pat and was able to see the wonderful work she is doing at Espiritu Santo School in helping children in the marginalized area get proper education and health care. Sister Pat is an Administrator at the school, which is an inter-congregational collaboration of the Dominican Religious Communities of Adrian, Michigan and Caldwell, New Jersey
For Mueller who grew up in Santo Domingo and has had a successful career in higher education in the United States, visiting the school and seeing the children’s faces struck a chord deep inside of her. “My heart was in my hands. All my life I have been looking to connect my academic success with my homeland.” And she knew this was the answer to that yearning. “When I see those kids, I see myself, my brothers, my cousins.” She pointed out that “education in rural areas is non-existent” in that part of the D.R. After spring break, Mueller came back to the U.S. determined to do something to help the children and their families. Besides recruiting her co-workers and others in the Caldwell College community, she has reached out to relatives and friends in the corporate world and has received quite a bit of support.
And the ripple effect continues. Center for Graduate and Continuing Studies Associate Dean Lisa DiBisceglie is working with Dr. Jan Stewart and Sister Mary John Kearney in the Education Department to develop a Travel Abroad program next spring for Caldwell College students to visit that area of the Dominican Republic. They will observe Sister Pat’s school and other educational institutions in the country.
Admissions Counselor/Recruiter Vilma Mueller and Sister Michael Maurice Leahy, O.P., Senior Academic Advisor in the Center for Graduate and Continuing Studies, at the Party With a Purpose. |
Calling Sister Pat’s work an “extraordinary work of love”, the Caldwell group hosted a “Party with a Purpose” over the summer to celebrate and introduce the Caldwell community and others to Sister Pat and the work at the Centro Fe y Alegria Espiritu Santo.
Mueller already has future projects on her mind. She says the school needs more classrooms, a baseball field and baseball equipment, desks and much more, but for now the water connection is a big step in the right direction that will improve the quality of life for many. “I’m confident that with the generosity and willingness to help from our friends and family we will greatly benefit not only Sister Pat’s students and their school, but also the lives of their extended families in El Cruce”.