Twenty-nine rising Xavier High School sophomores will soon embark on an ecumenical mission trip with First Fruits Farm ministry. As part of the mission, they will help with various tasks to provide fresh produce, honey, eggs, and beef for homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and food banks in Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic region.

First Fruits Farm is a nonprofit Christian ministry founded in 1998. The Maryland mission project will occur August 5-8. A rising sophomore is a high school student who has completed his or her freshman year but has not yet begun their sophomore, or second, year.

“This is an important introduction for rising sophomores to the Companions of St. Francis Xavier Service and Immersion Program (CFX),” Katie McCann, director of the Ignatian Services Program of the school’s campus ministry, told The Good Newsroom. “The CFX is rooted in the pillars of service, prayer, simple living, and community,” she noted, adding that the project “is a good real-life experience for them” to help battle food insecurity.   

CFX is a longstanding part of Xavier High School’s tradition, giving students “the opportunity to live out the Ignatian call to be men for others.” The all-boy high school is located on West 16th Street in Lower Manhattan.               

McCann said the Maryland mission helps students participate “in working towards a solution while learning about the issue when we work with First Fruits Farm.” 

CFX organizers said the project unites the Christian community to demonstrate God’s love by offering the harvest’s first fruits to those in need. They noted that, like the school’s patron saint, St. Francis Xavier, the faithful are called to go forth into the world to be witnesses of the Gospel. The CFX mission trips to locations in the U.S. and abroad provide students with a communal experience of the Church as a center of reflection and prayer while working and engaging with those most in need.

“I feel very excited (about) my mission trip. Ever since I was a little kid, I always liked to help people in need. I can’t wait to go to Maryland,” John Thomas Mahovlic, 16, one of the students heading to First Fruits Farm next week, told The Good Newsroom.

Citing his faith in Christ, Mahovlic added, “I try to better my strength with the Lord every day.”

Thousands of students, faculty, staff, and alumni have volunteered during their summers in the CFX program, which is at the heart of the school’s Jesuit mission and Ignatian identity. Organizers said many students have found the service trips to be life-changing experiences during which they learned new skills, ministered to people, made new friends, and grew closer to God. Partner organizations also include Habitat for Humanity and Esperanza International.

The Maryland service project runs from Monday through Thursday, with two days spent working on the farm harvesting produce that goes to various shelters, soup kitchens, and food banks. While not working, students learn about the realities of poverty, hunger, and homelessness worldwide, “including the systems and structures that contribute to it.” Through reflection and prayer, students will come to new understandings of these realities and think about how they can play their part in combating injustices.

Over the years, the optional CFX program at Xavier High School has sent students on summer and school-year domestic service trips to New Jersey, Arizona, Tennessee, and South Dakota, and abroad to Mexico, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic. The program also offers local mission opportunities in the New York metro area, allowing students to engage in service in their neighboring communities.