STA Whitesville Mission Trip Fundraising

STA Whitesville Mission Trip Fundraising

From Kiely & Jack Gaertner

My dad, Jack and I will be returning to Whitesville, WV, a poverty-stricken town, with our church this June. We will repair and build homes, get to know the families, and share God's love!

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Update #1

almost 10 years ago

Thanks to you, I have raised even more than my goal! The support I have received this year is inspiring, and I am so thankful. I will be sure to share with you my experiences on the trip when I get home. Thanks again for your donations as well as your prayers!

More Info

Hi there!

While this is my second (but Jack's first) time on the trip, last summer marked Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church's 22nd visit to Whitesville.  This year, more than 60 high school teens and college students and 21 adults from our parish will travel to Whitesville, West Virginia to represent St Thomas Aquinas and spend a week building a community with the people in Whitesville.  Whitesville is a small, quiet town, nestled in the Appalachian Mountains and is somewhat of a contrast in many ways to local cities, yet it is a wonderful community of people that opens up and welcomes us each year we visit.

It is because of your support and prayers that these trips are possible.  The people whose lives we are able to touch are oftentimes unsure of us and what to expect.  For many of our teens, this trip is a new experience and an introduction to a powerful reality – God exists in our world because we allow Him to exist.  He exists through the lives of the people He created in His image.  Our teens come to understand this and do their part to allow Him to exist through the things that they do during that week. 

When we returned from Whitesville last summer, we left knowing that there were other people whose lives we could touch if we returned.  So this June, we will travel back to Whitesville and will again ask for your support and prayers.  We need to raise money so that we can travel to Whitesville, so that we can pay for food and accommodations during the week (we’ll sleep in the classrooms at an elementary school and eat at the church) and so that we can purchase the materials we need to do what’s necessary to help the people we meet.

We would like to ask you to commit to praying for our trip and to consider sponsoring us.  If you can join us either prayerfully or financially, we would be most grateful.  Please be assured that your support and prayers are life changing – for our teens as well as the people of Whitesville.  

This is the second year that my dad and I will be going on this mission trip, and Jack's first year, and we are all very excited. We made some great friends in the Whitesville community, and are looking forward to being a part of it again. We are extremely thankful for your support on our journey. 

God Bless!

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Kiely & Jack Gaertner posted a new update:
almost 10 years ago

Thanks for all of the support!!

Thanks to you, I have raised even more than my goal! The support I have received this year is inspiring, and I am so thankful. I will be sure to share with you my experiences on the trip when I get home. Thanks again for your donations as well as your prayers!

Join the Conversation

Sign in with your Facebook account or