A Double Dose of Grateful Givers
By Mark Udry

On a steamy Saturday morning in downtown Jacksonville, a steady trickle of customers form outside the St. Francis Soup Kitchen at the Providence Center. The air is thick with cigarette smoke, sweat and rotting garbage from nearby dumpsters.

They stand in groups of three or four in the parking lot, smoking cigarettes, talking amongst themselves, clutching plastic shopping bags or battered backpacks containing their few possessions.

Others sit alone in what scant shade is available, staring vacantly into space, mumbling loudly to themselves. All have gathered waiting for a free meal, sacks of food, a smile of recognition and a few kind words – an hour of respite from their life on the streets.

Inside, a group of 30 volunteers are preparing for the morning flood of clients. Some place baskets of bread and crackers on long rows of tables, others fill cups with ice water or spoon salad into bowls. Huge steel pots of soup, steam wafting upward, are stirred with large wooden paddles. Fluorescent lights buzz overhead, bathing the room in an eerie, greenish-white cast. It’s loud, hot and claustrophobic.

At a stainless steel prep table, Frank and Mike Dawedeit are preparing desserts along with members of the Sacred Heart Parish youth group. Both teens are quickly cutting up cakes and pies donated from local grocery stores into wedges, placing them on plate-filled trays, then loading them onto carts.

Frank and Mike Dawedeit are 15-year-old identical twins; both sport a mop of blonde hair and matching eyeglasses, but it’s easy to tell them apart. Frank is outgoing and talkative, a perpetual motion machine. Mike is quiet and reserved, taking great care when putting thoughts into words. Their personalities may be different, but they share some common traits. Both boys excel in the classroom as sophomores at Bishop John Snyder High School. They also share a strong sense of stewardship, particularly in helping the poor and homeless.

Julie Motes, the twin’s mother, home schooled both until sixth grade. After two years in public school, they enrolled at Sacred Heart School for the eighth grade. Frank and Mike became active in the youth ministry program coordinated by Cindy Lynskey immediately after graduating from Sacred Heart.

In addition to their visits to the St. Francis Soup Kitchen, they also work the youth ministry booth at the parish carnival, participate in the Souper Bowl of Caring collection, help coordinate the parish Giving Tree and are actors in the Fright House at the Greater Jacksonville Agricultural Fair which raises donations for Cystic Fibrosis.

“I’ve always encouraged Frank and Mike, but they’re always one step ahead of me,” said Julie. “Nothing that they are doing, or have done, is something I can take credit for. They are very proactive in doing the right thing and they have wonderful adults in their lives.”

Cindy Lynskey says Frank and Mike enjoy their time volunteering at the soup kitchen; for them it’s a comforting place where they feel they can help others.

“The first time they volunteered (at the kitchen) they were awestruck,” she said. “They were kind of quiet; I think they had never seen anything like this in their lives. They realize how fortunate they are and want to be a part of anything they can do that can make a difference in those less fortunate. They possess such sincere compassion and generosity.”

“Once we started working there it was similar to serving a meal to a family,” said Mike. “Everyone there is very nice to us, they are always smiling at us and thanking us for helping them.”

“(Volunteering at St. Francis) showed me there were a lot of people less fortunate than I am, and it humbled me,” said Frank. “I feel like I’m really blessed because these people have nothing. It gives you some perspective.”

It was on their second trip to the soup kitchen that Frank and Mike took aside Diane McVety, co-director of the St. Francis Soup Kitchen, and pressed a $20 dollar bill into her hand. It was money the boys had saved from their allowance and lunch money. They gave it to Diane and her husband, Jim (the other co-director) to buy groceries to feed the poor.

“It was a difficult day down here, there were disturbances among the clients, which we get, given the population,” said Jim McVety. “It took us five feet off the ground and made everything wrong that day go away. It was such a wonderful thing for us to experience, that these two teenagers from their faith and own goodness reached out to help. We were very touched by it.”

This summer Frank and Mike took their stewardship mission on the road. In July the boys traveled to Pass Christian, Miss., to serve meals at God’s Katrina Kitchen. The kitchen feeds more than 1,500 people daily, as well as coordinates home repairs in the area and tutors schoolchildren.

“I think all young people have an impulse to do good things,” said Julie Motes. “The youth group helps Frank and Mike get outside their own world, and they see everyone is good even though they come from different backgrounds and that’s really valuable to them.”

Valuable to them, and to those Frank and Mike help.