Prep Talk

Austin Mee ’16 Caritas project – Performing ground restoration at Philadelphia’s Mount Moriah Cemetery

Posted October 15th, 2015

As the Pope traveled around Philadelphia last weekend – part of the World Meeting of Families Celebration – Austin Mee ’16 expressed his respect for families by helping to to clean up Philadelphia’s Mount Moriah Cemetery with his grandfather, David Munyun, as part of his Caritas project.

Here’s an excerpt from the Cemetery Traveler Blog:

As part of a community service project that he is expected to accomplish for his school, this teen chose to help perform grounds restoration work here in this Philadelphia cemetery. The Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, Inc. and thousands of volunteers have been able to keep about twenty-five percent of this formerly abandoned, several-hundred acre cemetery clear of trees and other invasive vegetation since 2011. It is an immense challenge to just maintain cleared sections and mow grass on this huge property, let alone take back additional acreage.

While most of the population living around Philadelphia was either on the Ben Franklin Parkway waiting for Pope Francis to arrive, or avoiding it all at the Jersey Shore, these guys were cutting weeds, clearing graves, and chopping down trees… David and Austin had cut back weeds and trees at dozens of grave sites, and piled the debris for later pickup. They had cut back many trees of various sizes and were in the process of filling the trunks with weed killer (to kill the stump so it cannot grow back and cause additional damage to the monuments and headstones). They took a short break to talk with us… Austin is totally engaged in this work and understands the impact he is making by generously donating his time and energy to this community cause. Also, it’s great that he’s spending time with his Grand Dad!

We’re very proud of Austin’s work. Here at the Prep, service is an integral component of the Augustinian Education. Through service to others, students get to know themselves better, develop an attitude of gratitude, and make a difference in the world. Great job, Austin!