Senior Sophia Safieddine’s participation in the Service Trip to the Motherhouse summer of 2023 was so meaningful that it inspired her, her mother, and her younger sister to volunteer there for a week this past June. It was, she says, a time to disconnect, reflect, relax, and have fun.

There was hard work, too. The trio gave valuable service to the community by doing needed work on the cabins where retreatants stay, mulching trees and plants, weeding gardens, inventorying hundreds of books, and taking on other tasks that might have gone undone without their help. Through all this, they worked side by side with Loretto Community members, getting to know them as they also did during meals and other times together.  

Sophia sums up her family’s experience volunteering at the Motherhouse:  “We had such a great experience getting to know each individual’s stories. Knowing that we could make such a difference through volunteering couldn’t have been more fulfilling!”