Teens in Michigan are stepping up to serve as pallbearers for military veterans who didn’t have a family or were homeless when they died. The high school students attend the University of Detroit Jesuit School and volunteer their time to be part of a burial for those who would otherwise be buried alone.
The Pallbearer Ministry program at the school got its start after six seniors volunteered to help bury three unclaimed veterans in October 2015 and students have continued giving their time to keep it going since. The volunteers try to learn more about the deceased before the service and sometimes they carry the coffin, other times they serve as a team of “honor guards” who offer support and pray for the deceased.
“It’s really extraordinary to take note of someone who was left to die in the cold on the street,” says Richard Mazyck, campus ministry and service coordinator for University of Detroit Jesuit School. “Assisting at their funeral, or at their committal and burial, is a way of honoring their lives, even though we may have never met them.”
Source: TODAY
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