The Catholic Standard & Times - Deaf Apostolate project helps fund pilgrimage

Deaf Apostolate project helps fund pilgrimage

By NADIA MARIA SMITH
CS&T Staff Writer

Would you like to get rid of your old cell phones and used ink cartridges while supporting a worthy cause and safeguarding the environment?

Then send your cell phones and ink cartridges to the archdiocesan Deaf Apostolate.

In an ongoing fundraiser, the Deaf Apostolate is working with an organization that will take the cell phones and ink cartridges, and recycle their parts or ensure that they are properly disposed of, according to Denise Logan, religious education coordinator for the apostolate. Logan also works with teenage and young adult deaf Catholics.

Individually, the old phones aren’t worth much, but the Deaf Apostolate is able to turn a small profit from selling them in bulk. The office will use that money to help defray the cost of the first International Deaf Catholic Pilgrimage to Rome in June 2008, said Sister Kathleen Schipani, I.H.M., the administrator of the Department for Pastoral Care for Persons with Disabilities.

To date, 41 deaf Catholics will represent the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on the pilgrimage. They plan to pay their own expenses — but because the value of the dollar is decreasing in Europe, the trip has suddenly become more expensive than organizers anticipated.

Sister Kathleen said the fundraiser will help cover the cost difference for the travelers, ensuring that no one has to drop out.

“I feel strongly that this opportunity will be an extraordinary blessing to those who participate, and to the Church,” Sister Kathleen said.

“For a community that sometimes feels isolated or on the margins, it is my hope that this experience will clearly communicate the reality that, rooted in their faith and the Church, they are an integral part of the Body of Christ,” she said.

During the two-week pilgrimage, the Philadelphia contingent will meet Deaf Catholics from around the world, spend two days at conferences at the Vatican and take part in an audience with Pope Benedict XVI. They will also tour the sites of ancient Rome with a guide using American Sign Language.

The fundraiser will also help with costs for other programs of the apostolate such as its Deaf Mission Retreat in the spring and Deaf Teen program, Logan said.

In addition, the project will help protect the environment, Logan added.

“You will be giving old technology new life and keeping it from polluting our landfills,” she said. “One cell phone can pollute up to 132,000 liters of drinking water.

“Your unwanted cell phones and ink cartridges will be recycled in accordance with EPA [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] regulations, or refurbished and reused. Your donation may be tax deductible as well,” Logan added. “It’s a win-win situation.”

Her office will accept any cells or ink cartridges, but is looking especially for old Nokia 3800 Luna cell phones.

For more information, contact Denise Logan at dlogan@adphila.org or call (215) 587-3913.

CS&T staff writer Nadia Maria Smith may be reached at npozo@adphila.org or (215) 965-4614.

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