Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - On Nov. 12 and13, five University of Wisconsin-Platteville students left the campus for the weekend to volunteer their time and effort at the Mary House, 10 or so miles away from the Oxford Prison. The house is a hotel for inmates' families to stay, free of charge.

Daniel Giebel of Kaukauna has been participating in the program for the last five years. In addition to Giebel, other UWP students that went this year were Alyssa Meyer of Muskego, Jon Peterson of Burlington, Samantha Klapatauskas of Thorp, and Nicole Eggebeen of Sheboygan.

"Somebody in the community decided there was a need for a place for inmates' families," Giebel explains. Inmates can be relocated to a federal penitentiary such as Oxford Prison from around the U.S. Sometimes the high price of local hotels in nearby cities such as Wisconsin Dells, as well as the price of a taxi drive, is too much for their families to pay. In addition to offering a free place to stay, the Mary House offers a free car shuttle service from the house to the prison.

This house is part of the Catholic Worker Movement, founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in 1933 to provide non-profit service to those in need. The movement survives largely on donations and volunteer effort from each individual community that it serves. There is one full-time staff member that stays at the house the entire year; the rest of the help are temporary volunteers, such as the UWP students.

This year, the students had their hands full with numerous different projects. "We go to restock wood supplies for winter because the house is heated by a wood-burning stove," Giebel says. "We also send out thank you letters. All in all, we stuffed about 1,000 envelopes this year and filled the entire basement with wood." The Mary House is currently undergoing some remodeling, so the students assisted in cleaning up the area as well.

Not only is the volunteer process emotionally rewarding, but it's also a learning experience.

"We are able to get out in the community, and this volunteer situation is a wonderful way for students to get a better understanding of how our judicial system is run," Giebel notes.

Because the group also included students from two other colleges - UW-Madison and Edgewood College - the five UWP students were able to meet and work with others outside of their university. Likewise, the recruitment of students to help out with this event is a collaborative effort between the youth ministers of all three universities.

Contact: Dan Giebel, UWP student, (608) 342-2367, giebeld@uwplatt.edu

Prepared by: Kym Bliven, Public Relations, (608) 342-1194, blivenk@uwplatt.edu