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Students for Life Team Up with Archdiocese of Newark Young Adult Office to Attend March for Life
Caldwell College Students for Life teamed up with the Youth and Young Adult Ministries Office of the Archdiocese of Newark to attend the March for Life in Washington D.C.
Caldwell students Rebeca Munoz, Elena Santoliquido, Samantha Kantrow and Kimberley Hayes, along with Chaplain Father Al Berner joined the group of college students and young adults for the trip to Washington D.C. for the 36th annual March for Life.
The busload of young people left from St. John’s parish in Linden, New Jersey Wednesday evening Jan. 21 after Father Al Berner concelebrated Mass with Father Joe Meagher, Director of the Respect Life Office for the Archdiocese of Newark and Father Paco Legarra, AOR (a member of the Augustinian community) from Holy Family Parish in Union City.
The group arrived at a church in Falls Church, Virginia around midnight and slept on the gym floor in the parish. After about 4 hours of sleep (if that!) they got up and headed to D.C. to attend a Youth Music Rally and Mass at the Verizon Center with more than 20,000 teenagers and young adults. Then it was on to the national Mall for speakers and a rally and then to the March for Life up Constitution Avenue.
Kimberley Hayes, a senior at Caldwell attended the March for the first time. "There were so many people gathered together for such a special cause that their energy was contagious. The youth rally and mass were a great kick-off for the day."
Rebeca Munoz, who is also a senior at Caldwell, has attended the March many times before, but she said it gets better every time she goes. "I always leave with a sense of hope in humanity. It is amazing to see the thousands of young people who believe in the pro-life message and realize a baby is a person."
Munoz said she would recommend the experience to other Caldwell College students because it gives "you an opportunity to think outside of yourself. In our daily lives our it’s so easy to come back to being about me, me, me and this opens your eyes to a bigger picture of the injustice that is going on in our country," and she said it was also "a really inspiring experience to be inspired by young, peaceful, individuals who believe in a common idea and march in our nation's capital to make a statement for life."
Hayes said she will never forget how fulfilling the experience was for her. "My voice was confident and strong in Washington D.C. and will continue to be heard as a voice for the voiceless."
The trip was put together by Caldwell College Students for Life members Lia Canavan, Rebeca Munoz and Elena Santoliquido and staff member Colette Liddy, along with Sister Loretta DeDomenicis, Director of the Center for Youth and Young Adult Ministries for the Archdiocese of Newark and Father Joe Meagher of the Respect Life office for the Archdiocese of Newark.