Megan Krumholz, Class Of ’05

Last year for Spring Break Meghan traveled to Biloxi, Mississippi. In the six months since Hurricane Katrina little appeared different. Buildings were still sitting in ruin; houses were ripped from their foundations; the lives of thousands were washed away. During her week in Mississippi she and a group of students focused mainly on debris clean up. They cleaned up a local historic center, a cemetery, and a woman’s home. They also worked in a FEMA food pantry. While in Biloxi Meghan was overwhelmed with a sense of purpose. For that week it was her responsibility to serve those in need. After her trip to Biloxi she came back to Loyola with a new understanding and appreciation for the world in which she lives. In the time since March Meghan has already returned to Biloxi for a second week of service. In the spring of 2007 she will return to Biloxi this time leading the students from Loyola College. Biloxi and the Gulf Coast will never be the same after Hurricane Katrina. Meghan would ask that in reading this article you remember those who lost their lives, those who were displaced and those who have chosen to rebuild.

Kelly Warch’01

My experiences at Mercy helped me to become a confident young woman with ambition to pursue my dreams. My experiences as Chairperson of the Mission committee at OLMA stirred within me a passion for social justice and a commitment to work with the marginalized, members of society. I have since worked with the homeless in Portland, Oregon, volunteered with children in Peru and Honduras, served the elderly in New Mexico and taught English to Ugandan children.

See Poverty in the United States on the Video Gallery located on the About Us pull down.

Letter

Dear Friends,

My wife and I would like to take this time to thank the OLMA community for helping to mold our daughter Kristie Ebbecke [class of 2004], into the fine young woman she is.  Since Kristie has gone beyond your halls, she has been studying at another Mercy institution, College Misericordia, in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

It is very apparent to us that OLMA prepared her for the challenge of a five year Occupational Therapy program where she will begin her fourth year in August.  Most inspiring to us is that she has given up her breaks from school for humanitarian trips for hurricane relief in Mississippi, visiting an orphanage on the island of Jamaica, and most recently helping those in dire need in Laredo, TX near the Mexican border.  She has done one of these trips even though she was recuperating from major knee reconstruction, and still managing to be a starter for the volleyball team in the interim.  This fortitude and desire is something God given but reinforced by the experience she received at OLMA.  

Thank you,
John and Peggy Ebbecke