Christ Church in the Providence Journal (News)

Below is an article by Bob Kerr (a journalist) about Christ Church that appeared in the Providence Journal this week. Pretty awesome!!


The people who made this a better year
01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Tomorrow being Thanksgiving, the last day of peace before the holiday stampede, it seems fitting to once again take a quiet look back at some of the people who have done the right thing and the good thing.

There are obviously thousands who could be listed for being generous and thoughtful and selfless and doing what comes naturally. This is just a small list offered with gratitude. It has been a much better year for knowing these people and the things that they do:

•Mike Jackson: He calls the 24 notes of “taps” the saddest in music, but he is there at the Veterans Cemetery in Exeter and in other places when military veterans are laid to rest to play those notes and provide the solemn, melancholy sound of final tribute and farewell. He believes it is the right of every veteran. He was not happy to learn that the tradition was being covered by bugles raised to untrained lips with the sound actually coming from a tiny speaker. So he set out to change things, and bring the human touch to a very human moment.

•Sister Mary Reilly: She has been a Sister of Mercy for 59 years, and in those years she has been a tireless advocate for those who have not received their rightful share. Along the way, she co-founded Dorcas Place, which has grown into a wonderful adult literacy center. Then she created Sophia Academy to give girls from poor Providence families the kind of academic opportunity that can be life changing. She officially retired as its executive director in September, but she hasn’t really retired. She is still considering other possibilities, other ways to set things right.

•John Powers: When a friend came home from Afghanistan all messed up and unable to get a job, Powers decided to do something. He realized there had to be thousands of other veterans dealing with the same fears and confusion, so he put together a Veterans Resource Guide. He delivered the bound copy last week. It is filled with the kind of practical where-to-go and who-to-see information that can bring a veteran in from the cold. It represents months of work and it will help a lot of people.

•The Struck Family: Bob Struck and his daughter Kristin and some cousins, aunts and uncles decided to do something for the troops, to do what they could to let people in dangerous places know they are appreciated and definitely not forgotten. They threw a healthy chunk of cash into the pot to get things started three years ago and started Pack It Up, an organization that sends everything from bug spray to iPods to the troops. They hold fundraisers, including a road race in Narragansett, and they make a valuable connection between the war and the home front.

•The Parishioners of Christ Church: The church in East Greenwich has sent its best to the students of Reservoir Avenue Elementary School in Providence. It began three years ago with a homework club, with volunteer tutors from the church working one on one with the students. It has grown to include music and fine arts instruction, the donation of equipment and Christmas gifts. It is an urban-suburban partnership that teaches all kinds of things to everyone involved.

•Those Veterans and Their Friends: The dedication of the World War II Memorial in Providence on Nov. 11 was much more than the formal acknowledgement of a striking new addition to Memorial Park. It was a celebration of history and community. It was a day when all kinds of people could look at a memorial that will teach its quiet lessons to generations and know that they are a part of it.

Happy Thanksgiving.