Service Immersion Trips

Jerusalem Farm is a Catholic Intentional Community located in Kansas City, MO. They are built on the four cornerstones of Prayer, Community, Service, and Simplicity. TG students on this experience will get the opportunity to participate in service/retreat experiences, sustainable living, and local home repair for low/no-income families. 
 

The Bedford Park Lasallian community will host TG students in the Bronx, NY. They are an intentional community that accompanies groups and individuals who work, volunteer, and are students in the New York area living and engaging with the local community. TG students will volunteer with Part Of The Solution (POTS) which is a non-profit organization that focuses on personalized services that fight hunger and poverty in the Bronx community. While in New York, TG students will pray, share in meals, and share in community with both Lasallian and the Jesuit community connected to Fordham University.

In Browning, Montana, Totino-Grace partners with the De La Salle Middle School on the Blackfeet Reservation. DLS Blackfeet offers a Lasallian education to young people in the impoverished community of the Blackfeet Reservation. TG students will serve as volunteers in the classroom, hear speakers on Native American culture and community, and spend time near the Glacier National Park. 
 

The White Violet Center for Eco-Justice is a sustainable farming project run by the Sisters of Providence at St. Marys of the Woods College. TG Students will spend five days working on the White Violet Farm, learning about the various ministries and vocations of the Sisters of Providence, and praying together in the serene beauty of the Indiana Woods. 

This program provides TG students with the opportunity to visit the US/Mexico border and learn about the Catholic and humanitarian response to the many complexities of immigration. Through this five day immersion program, students will learn about, and experience in part, the hard journey our brothers and sisters crossing from “El Otro Lado” endure. In addition to informing students of the hundreds of migrant deaths that occur in the Arizona desert, El Otro Lado allows students to interact with humanitarian and Catholic groups, Border Patrol agents, and those directly impacted by US immigration policy. El Otro Lado students attend presentations by members of Southern Arizona’s humanitarian aid community, visit a US Border Patrol Station, clear belongings and refuse from migrant trails, visit a Lasallian Cristo Rey school primarily serving the children of immigrants, see deportation proceedings, and volunteer with bi-national faith-based organizations. 

The Br. David Darst Center provides transformative social justice retreats and immersion experiences grounded in the Lasallian tradition and Catholic Social Teaching. Through programs and partnerships with local community organizations, participants gain a deeper understanding of the complex realities of injustice and obtain tools to take action. TG seeks to inspire an active and engaged faith, a commitment to serve, and a passion for social change. Students will participate in service and learning opportunities that explore topics around urban poverty.
 

Social teaching is a central element of the Catholic Church. As a Catholic and Lasallian community we place emphasis on social justice education and action through our mission, curriculum and campus ministry programming.  

There are seven themes of Catholic social teaching:

• Life and Dignity of the Human Person
• Call to Family, Community and Participation
• Rights and Responsibilities
• Option for the Poor and Vulnerable
• The Dignight of Work and Rights of Workers
• Solidarity
• Care for God's Creation

More can be found on the USCCB website.

Totino-Grace is committed to bringing social justice teaching topics and experiences to our students. Our faculty, staff, coaches and moderators help strengthen students' awareness of social justice systems and provide charity opportunities in a variety of ways throughout the school year. Examples include: mission trip experiences, lasallian youth service projects, respect life group opportunities, mission collection and donation opportunities through campus ministry and co-curricular group initiatives, partnership with Common Hope and St. Josephs in Keren, Eritrea. 

Our Theology Department offers a Social Justice elective course that includes examines how we are called to address systems and do charitable work.