Overnight Service Trip To Twin Cities

Earlier this month, thirteen Cotter students along with Mrs. Corcoran, Director of Campus Ministry and her husband John, Cotter class of 1995, headed out on an overnight service trip in the Twin Cities. On the first day of their trip, students participated in a Poverty Simulation called “Face the Facts: Understanding Urban Poverty” in an effort to understand the injustices of poverty. That evening they took a break from their mission work and enjoyed soccer at a nearby park, played games and ate pizza.

The next day began with morning prayer and then they packaged food for families in Guatemala at Feed My Starving Children. Eva Stango, Cotter senior, found the whole trip very empowering. Eva said, “It doesn’t take a lot to volunteer and it really helps people. When we packed the food for Feeding My Starving Children, we provided more than 10,000 meals.” After that, they enjoyed an ethnic lunch at Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis and Dia de los Muertos displays throughout the Market. They ended the day distributing food in Corcoran Park with the Sanneh Foundation where students had the opportunity to use their Spanish (or learn Spanish!) as they distributed fresh fruits, vegetables, and non-perishable foods to families in need. The founder and President of the Sanneh Foundation, Tony Sonneh, was present and expressed his gratitude to Cotter students for their help. Tony Sanneh played professional Soccer and was a member of the U.S. national team. Tony has done great things for the Twin Cities. Cotter freshman, Edward Modjeski said “I enjoyed all the soccer that happened on this service trip. The turf soccer field was awesome and I got to meet Tony Sanneh.” We were so happy to be able to partner with the Sanneh Foundation to serve 304 families on Friday.

Service is a part of who we are as a Catholic school community here at Cotter. We are each called to serve the marginalized, the forgotten, the refugee, and the lost. We were thrilled to resume this bi-yearly tradition of serving in the Twin Cities. This is the first time we've returned since 2020.