Releasing the DOVEs
What is Releasing the Doves?
Releasing the Doves is an opportunity for Seton Hall students to leave the comforts of South Orange and experience poverty through simple living and service. The Division of Volunteer Efforts runs international mission trips to El Salvador and Haiti, and domestic trips to West Virginia and Philly, for students who feel called to participate in this solidarity.
Releasing the Doves Goals
On these missions Dove instills the importance of the ‘ministry of presence’ to understand the universality of love and suffering. The mission is to build relationships and compassion through our solidarity with the people who struggle most. The focus of these trips is to learn about and understand poverty and injustice.
Prayer
All Dove trips are rooted in prayer and reflection. Daily mass is celebrated by the team’s priest chaplain. While reflection and prayer are rooted in the Catholic tradition, students of all faiths are welcome and encouraged to participate.
Projects
El Salvador
During a week-long immersion experience, selected students travel to San Miguel or
El Mozote, El Salvador, to serve for a week in local nursing homes, orphanages, schools,
and soup kitchens to learn about the experience of those in developing countries.
Haiti
During a week-long immersion experience, selected students serve in Hinch, Haiti where
they live and work at the Maison Fortuné orphanage. Students also have the opportunity
to work at the Missionaries of Charity Hospital.
Philadelphia
On these weekend trips in northern Philadelphia, students spend their time volunteering
at the restaurant-style Saint Francis Inn soup kitchen. Students wait and clean tables
for these patrons in an effort not only to feed them, but to provide them with the
dignity that all people deserve.
West Virginia
This has students traveling twelve hours to Wayne County in the Appalachian region
of West Virginia. The people of this area are living in a ‘forgotten America’. Their
coal mines have been shut down and with nowhere to work they are living in conditions
and in an economy comparable to third world countries. The people of Wayne County
have very little, and their land has been passed down through generations. On this
mission students are taught to help build and repair houses on this land so that the
people do not have to leave it. The main focus however is to build relationships with
these families, and learn about the cause of such poverty in the region.
If you are interested in assisting the students with the cost of these trips, or any
of our other projects, please send a check to the following address:
Division of Volunteer Efforts
400 South Orange Avenue
South Orange, NJ 07079
Please make checks payable to “DOVE” and include “RELEASING THE DOVES” in the memo line. If you have questions, please contact us by phone (973) 761-9702
or by email [email protected].