By S. Caryn Crook
FrancisCorps is a yearlong volunteer experience for young adults in Syracuse, New York sponsored by the Franciscan Conventual Friars of Our Lady of the Angels province. Our congregation has been co-ministers to the program since its first group of volunteers. Sisters Ann Kenyon and Marcia Barry were active in the program for 12 years. After they moved onto different ministries, I stepped up to help continue the program’s inspiring works.
Last weekend, we joined in celebrating the 20th Anniversary of FrancisCorps. The milestone was marked by a full weekend of planned activities. Friday included a social at the Friary and Saturday, there was a luncheon at Syracuse’s Rosamond Gifford Zoo. In the evening, a banquet was the highlight of the weekend with important guests such as Rev. Douglas J. Lucia, the new Bishop of the Syracuse Diocese; Ben Walsh, Syracuse mayor; and Friar Dan Horan, OFM, keynote speaker. The entire first cohort of FrancisCorps volunteers, who paved the way for the 19 groups that followed, were present. Many of our sisters attended the Saturday evening banquet and a fun night was had by all.
Our sisters will continue to have a role in the program; I will help with retreats throughout the year and other sisters around the neighborhood will take part in Community nights. The charism of the sisters of St. Francis lives on in the 168 volunteers who got to know the sisters while working alongside our ministries. Here’s to many more years of serving young adults who in turn serve the poor in the Syracuse
