Expect 300 in Champaign for Catholic HEART Workcamp

Jennifer Willems

CHAMPAIGN — Mickey Nickrent knows that Catholic HEART Workcamp experiences can change lives.

For 10 years she has helped to organize mission trips to Catholic HEART Workcamp sites around the country for the teens from Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Mahomet, where she serves as a coordinator of the high school youth group with her husband, Tony. Even now, the Nickrents are in New Orleans with 43 teens and nine chaperones, providing assistance to areas of the Crescent City that are still recovering from Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.

When they return, the Nickrents will provide that opportunity for service, prayer and reflection for about 300 campers as the managers of the first Catholic HEART Workcamp to be held in Champaign.

THE HIGH School of Saint Thomas More will serve as home base for the camp, which is planned for July 20-26. Participants will sleep on the floor in the classrooms and the group will use the cafeteria for meals and other gatherings during the week, according to Mickey Nickrent.

Located in a rural setting, the high school will give participants a beautiful and peaceful place to rest and reflect after a hard day’s work, she told The Catholic Post.

Also making the camp possible is Provena Covenant Medical Center in Urbana, which has helped to identify work sites for the teens and is providing a nurse each day.

In addition, Provena has offered to send a clean-up crew to the high school when the camp is finished and is assisting with meals and transportation during the group’s free day, Nickrent said.

“They’ve been really great,” she said. “It’s nice to have that help and support.”

BASED in Goldenrod, Fla., Catholic HEART Workcamp seeks to “revitalize communities and beautify homes for the elderly, disabled and those who cannot afford needed repairs. Our goal is to inspire participants to serve in their local communities.”

Another goal is to empower participants to live as disciples of Christ by serving others. Nickrent said that spiritual growth is fostered through a morning program that includes prayer, time for reflection and discussion during lunch breaks, and opportunities to attend Mass and pray the rosary when they return to home base each evening.

While Mass is optional, “I’ve noticed that the group of people coming to daily Mass has grown,” she said.

Also built into the schedule is time to have fun and develop friendships.
“It’s nice that it’s a whole package,” Nickrent said. “It appeals to everyone in some way.”

PARTICIPANTS in the Catholic HEART Workcamp in Champaign will be moving furniture, painting and doing repairs for area senior citizens, providing a variety of services for the Champaign Park District, volunteering at the Mahomet Area Youth Club, repairing a boat dock for the Vermilion County Conservation District, and preparing and serving meals at the St. Jude Catholic Worker House.

Other service opportunities include light carpentry, painting and yard work for the Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club of Champaign, and A Woman’s Place in Urbana, which provides emergency shelter to those escaping domestic violence situations. Participants may also assist at Restoration Urban Ministries in Champaign, which serves those who are homeless, near-homeless and displaced.

“In some way it changes every life who participates in it — maybe in a big way, maybe in a small way,” Nickrent said of Catholic HEART Workcamp. “It’s a priceless experience. It really is.”

NICKRENT said registration is by group only, even if the group consists of one teen and one adult chaperone. The cost is $325 per person, which includes accommodations and meals and pays for the staff. Campers also will receive a T-shirt.

As The Catholic Post was going to press, there were openings for about 30 more participants in the Champaign camp. To register, contact the Catholic HEART Workcamp offices at (407) 678-0073.

“It’s well worth it,” Nickrent told The Post. “Our hope is to keep having it back here every year.”