RBC Maryknoll Affiliates Service Projects

Members of the Red Bank Catholic Maryknoll Club participate in service projects that support local nonprofit organizations such as JBJ Soul Kitchen, Covenant House New Jersey, and the RBC Making Dreams Come True Carnival. The club has also engages in Friends Across Boarders (FAB), the global Maryknoll Lay Missioners connection with the regions of El Salvador and Tanzania.

JBJ Soul Kitchen 
The JBJ Soul Kitchen is a nonprofit community restaurant run by the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, which serves paying and in-need customers. The restaurant is 40% funded by paying customers and 60% by donations. It also relies on the help of volunteers.  The Soul Kitchen service project is an experience that feeds the souls of everyone in the community.  Various RBC clubs and teams volunteer for this unique
 experience, where service and community come together. Students work alongside other local community members to clean, prep meals, and organize the restaurant in preparation for the meal that is served that night. At the end of their service, the students have the opportunity to share conversation and a delicious three course meal with the other volunteers. The experience of serving and sharing, which the students all enjoy, has a truly positive impact on them all. 

Covenant House Fundraising Project

Since 1989 Covenant House New Jersey has been providing food, shelter, immediate crisis care, and an array of other important services to homeless and runaway youth, including those between the ages of 18-21 who are victims of human trafficking. The goal of the Red Bank Catholic Covenant House project is to raise awareness and funds to support these teens. Our students use social media, email and verbal communication to reach out to friends and family and share their message. The project culminates with a “sleep out,” hosted by the RBC Maryknoll Affiliates.  At this event a representative from Covenant House speaks to the students about homeless teens in New Jersey, the realities of their situation, and how Covenant House helps them. The students get a glimpse of what life is like for the homeless by sleeping on the school property with no beds. The students attend an early morning Mass to give thanks for their blessings and to pray for those who lack education, food, shelter, and safety, and those who suffer from physical, emotional, and sexual abuse.

RBC Making Wishes Come True Carnival Project 

The RBC Making Wishes Come True club hosts a carnival on campus to raise funds for the Make a Wish Foundation of New Jersey.  The RBC Maryknoll Affiliates volunteer at the carnival by running backyard games and coordinating refreshments donated by Smoothie King.  Our students also distribute theMaryknoll Lay Missioners magazine to help raise awareness of our global Friends Across Boarders.

Cuba Volleyball Project

During the summer of 2016 RBC Maryknoll affiliate Catherine Curtin and her friend Ava Zoll used their passion for volleyball to bring fellowship and support to children in Cuba. They brought soccer balls and other equipment directly to Cuban children so they could better enjoy their love of the sport. RBC Maryknoll Affiliates supported Catherine’s personal project by hosting a school fundraiser called “Cool-Off with a Kool-Aide for Cuba." With the help of their fellow students, Catherine and Ava’s trip was a big success. 

Maryknoll Lay Missioners (FAB) Friends Across Boarders 

RBC Maryknoll Affiliates are connecting and building bridges across borders to help create a more just and compassionate world. In particular, they are connecting with people in communities in El Salvador and Tanzania. Over the past two years RBC Maryknoll Affiliate moderator Mr.Kelly Booth had the opportunity to take part in two Maryknoll Lay Missioners (FAB) trips. He experienced first-hand the life of the missioners and how they live and work with poor communities to respond to their basic needs, as Jesus taught us to do.

The RBC Maryknoll club supports these missions and shares their message with fellow students by
selling bottled “mission” water in the school bookstore throughout the year. Each month we recognize and honor an individual missioner and display
 photos and information to share their stories with students when they purchase the water. The students are inspired to learn more about our Friends Across Boarders and to become motivated to “Be Happy, do as much as they can, for as long as they can, while they can.”