Father Robert J. Fritz, senior priest at St. John Neumann, North Cape May, offers opening prayers for participants who came out for the Good Counsel Homes walk-a-thon on the Wildwood boardwalk May 31. The Riverside, N.J., home, which helps single mothers and their babies, held walk-a-thons in several other locations on the same day.
Photo by Alan M. Dumoff, more photos ccdphotolibrary.smugmug.com
By Peter G. Sánchez
PENNSAUKEN – Here along the Cooper River on May31, Paul VI High School sophomores Kylee McGuigan and Kayla Homan walked, in an effort to raise awareness of Good Counsel Homes and give homeless mothers and their children a future as bright as the sun the two students were under.
“Why not support Good Counsel Homes and take the opportunity to walk with friends,” said Kylee.
Cooper River was one of five locations in South Jersey which hosted the Good Counsel Homes walk-a-thon fundraiser. Kylee, Kayla and the other Cooper River participants joined walkers in Cinnaminson, Mount Laurel, Hurfville and Wildwood.
Located in Riverside, the Good Counsel Home has been a comforting place for homeless pregnant women and their children since 2011. Currently, the home has 10 mothers and nine babies, and two more children on the way, said Jo-Ann DiNoia, in charge of fundraising for Good Counsel South Jersey. The organization also has four other homes in New York.
Mothers currently at the home “want to make a difference in their lives, they want to change the direction of their lives, but the most important choice they made was to give birth to their baby,” she said.
“We’re there to help them and support them, and give them the parenting skills that they need.”
Kate Zengel, pro-life club moderator at Gloucester Catholic High School, walked in Pennsauken with four students from her club. In addition to the walk, the club recently led a bake sale at their school, with proceeds going to Good Counsel Homes
The day was “really important, in letting (the students) know they are a part of something bigger, for an important cause, with other people participating,” Kate said.
Sophomore Jete Flinn echoed Zengel’s sentiments. “We all are really excited to do the walk, and we all feel really strongly about” the cause of Good Counsel, she said.
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