How South Central LAMP has been providing light to Mayfielders for three decades 

Jackie explained why she decided to volunteer for this specific project. “我们有一位演讲者, 执行主任, 去年来梅菲尔德演讲,她解释道. “我调查了一下, and when I heard that I might actually be able to come here…I wanted to try volunteering.这是杰奎琳第一次来，但她说她打算再来.

Although many people inside the Mayfield community are familiar with “South Central LAMP,这与某种捐赠活动有关, very few are aware of its origins and the special relationship Mayfield has with the institution. 

1992年洛杉矶中南部发生内乱之后, Catholic sisters from eight distinct congregations formed a unique partnership, including representatives from the Society of the Holy Child Jesus (SHCJ). Seeing the physical devastation and emotional wounds in the community, 这些妇女为了一个共同的事业而团结在一起, 希望以最直接的方式服务. 他们开始在社区里进行调查, 他们举行社区会议，问了很多问题. Being bilingual for canvassers was a must because they were explicit that this would not be a top-down approach. They would not swoop into communities in an attempt to solve problems they didn’t understand. The result of their canvassing was this: mothers with language barriers wanted to improve their English literacy, 他们需要家长教育资源, and they wanted to learn skills to prepare their children for school and later success in life. And with that, the light of this LAMP was sparked, and the Family Literacy Program was born.

自1993年成立以来，南中LAMP发生了很多变化. 在早期, 创始八个教会的修女都是老师, 除了董事会之外. Sr. Susan Slater SHCJ—who was in leadership at the Society at the time—laughs reflecting on that specific element, saying everyone “wanted to do more” and they “realized you can’t have all nuns on the board to do that!” 

澳门太阳城App下载与南中央LAMP有很多联系.  并经过校园部团队的精心培养, 这两个组织之间的联系日益密切. 中南部LAMP为梅菲尔德带来了演讲者. 梅菲尔德已经举办了售书活动, 服装驱动器, 食物驱动器, 期间的产品驱动和玩具驱动使南中央LAMP受益. 校友理事会也指导校友们在那里捐款. 学生们在那里做志愿者. 梅菲尔德过去的父母都在那里教书. Members of Mayfield families have sat on the South Central LAMP board. And Mayfield’s past Director of Alum Relations—Nicole Cosand Burcham—is currently South Central LAMP’s Development Director. The warmth and joy of a Holy Child institution is always present at South Central LAMP as well. 而妈妈们在教室里, 利用识字或父母教育资源, often their pre-school age children are in a classroom just across the playground, 所以他们的母亲不必担心照顾孩子的负担. If you come on a weekday, the sounds of children’s laughter echoes across the blacktop. 30 years since its founding, South Central LAMP is as essential to this community as ever.

戴安娜Z. Pinto, South Central LAMP’s Executive Director, is amazed how far this organization has come. 平托13年前开始在南中央LAMP工作, 作为家庭倡导者, 时任项目总监, 并最终担任了执行董事的职位. 起初，她对担任高级领导角色犹豫不决, knowing she would miss the one-on-one relationships she had in other roles, 但是他说, 他说:“我不希望有人进来后不明白我们的任务. I know how special we are…there is a huge difference in the way we serve people…we are small. 人们来这里感觉很舒服.”

Neci, 梅菲尔德的一个学生来参加感恩节活动, 她第一次“听说LAMP是在神学课上”.Neci曾在她祖父母的教区的食物捐赠活动中担任志愿者, 但在探索了中南部LAMP的网站后, 她知道她也想在那里有所贡献. ”It was really interesting how they were providing support to parents and their children. 不是一个或另一个.”

服务学习是梅菲尔德教育不可或缺的一部分, and Mayfield students who visit South Central LAMP know that service is not about the simple act of giving or receiving, 满足生理需求, 或者填补物质缺口. 服务是一个相遇的地方. 在这些时刻, 人类亲缘关系这种看不见的纽带可以变得有些明显, 即使如此短暂. 每个参与其中的人都因这种认识而变得更加强大. It is at the very center of Cornelia Connelly’s incarnational theology—we get to see glimpses of the Divine in each other.

The Thanksgiving food boxes were not initially outlined in South Central LAMP’s foundational services when it started, 但几年前它一推出, it became abundantly clear this drive was helpful to families who were currently enrolled in South Central LAMP’s programming. 随着多年来越来越多的捐款, South Central LAMP welcomed the wider community to receive this holiday service as well. And many mothers who were graduates from South Central LAMP’s programs often serve as volunteers to distribute the food, 渴望回报. 仅仅几周后, 南中央灯会的年度玩具驱动器将举行, 三辆梅菲尔德货车又会停在中心, 这段时间充满了新的, 给孩子们的未包装物品, 从幼儿到青少年.

All of the eight founding congregations that helped launch South Central LAMP continue to contribute in different ways, and more organizations and congregations have become part of the South Central LAMP family as well. Sr. Slater SHCJ remarked that expansions and collaborations like these were incredibly fruitful to the Society, calling it “a different understanding of ministry” because it didn’t follow “the traditional educational model.” But one of the most transformative benefits of connecting local Holy Child schools to local ministries provided the potential for them to become “helpful to each other.” 

随着今年春天南中央LAMP 30周年纪念日的临近, it seems an opportunity to celebrate the relationship that has grown between Mayfield and South Central LAMP, 和我们圣子的关系, 这只会让这种动态变得更强. And as South Central LAMP has been providing services to its neighboring community, 他们也扩大了社区的范围, 梅菲尔德很幸运能成为这种增长的一部分. 确实是互相帮助.