Youth Ministry Collection Reaches 2k

By Brian M. Johnson, The Bristol Press

June 9, 2021

Thanks to the generosity of the Bristol community, St. Stanislaus’ Youth Ministry was able to collect more than 2,000 pairs of socks for the Catholic Mission Community in Fairbanks, Alaska, in a third of the time they expected.

Debbie Sousa, director of the youth group at the church at 510 West St., said that the distance between Bristol and Fairbanks, Alaska, is 4,329 miles so their goal was to collect one sock for every mile. They expected this collection to take six months, but instead were able to collect 2,442 pairs of socks in two months.

“It exceeded our expectations; I was speechless at how fast we were able to collect them,” said Sousa. “The community is always very supportive. We had Brian’s Angels send us a donation of a few hundred socks. Bristol Quota and several parishes also sent us money to help with shipping costs. In total, we received $700 to help with shipping.”

St. Stanislaus’ pastor, Tomasz Sztuber, had previously worked in Africa with the pastor at the Fairbanks community. The church’s goal was to have the warm socks sent over before December.

“Many Alaskans work outdoors and survive from things they grow on land and from the fishing industry but, they are forced to work outdoors in extreme cold temperatures and unfortunately it is not uncommon to face temperatures of below -40 degrees,” said Sousa. “There is an extremely high cost of living and Alaskans are considered some of the poorest people in our country. Transportation between villages is extremely expensive and they often only celebrate Mass once every 6 weeks when the priest is able to rotate to their village.”

In less than three weeks, St. Stanislaus’ Youth Ministry will also be embarking on a Mission Trip to Fairbanks, Alaska. Once there, they will perform a variety of community service projects.

“Our Youth Ministry very excited, especially after what we’ve been through this past year,” said Sousa. “With everyone homebound, local and confined for so many months will be nice to get out, be with peers, do something good and serve other people.”

For more information on St. Stanislaus Parish, call 860-583-4242 or visit ststanislausbristolct.org.