Romero Trip November 2025 Recap

The Romero Trip is a 3-day-long excursion that takes place at the Romero Center in Camden, New Jersey. Ten students (Me, Jordan Hotra, John Connell, Robert Bruzzichesi, Brendan Healy, Max Fleischer, Henry Daniel, Preston & Christian O’ Keefe, and Josh Aguilar), accompanied by the two chaperones (Father Matt and Ms. Finnen) embarked on the trip on Wednesday, November 5th. 

Upon arriving, we had an “orientation” of sorts, where one of the leaders of the organization, Richard, spoke to us about the mission of the Romero Center. We were shown videos that show the unfortunate and hard life of those who live in Camden. We were each given a prayer packet/journal, where we would pray for safety and peacefulness. This was a very eye-opening experience for us all because it showed us just how lucky we are, and how the very things we take for granted are the same things the people of Camden wish for. After the orientation, we had dinner, and then my friends and I played a board game called Apples to Apples until lights out at 10:30. Since there were 10 people and 5 rooms, there were 2 people to a room, and thus I roomed with John Connell. 

At 6:30 in the morning on Thursday, we were woken up to Father Matt playing loud music in the hallway. After getting ready for the day, we quickly headed downstairs, where we were shown our task for the day. With the 12 of us, we were split into 3 groups of 4. We were about to have a “food challenge”, meaning each group could only spend $24 on food and only use it for the whole day. However, each group had a unique “obstacle.” My group, comprised of me, Brendan, Preston, and Ms. Finnen, had the high sodium obstacle. The other obstacles for the other groups meant that one group could only use $18 instead of the planned $24, and the other group couldn’t use the stove. We headed to a nearby supermarket, and thanks to Ms. Finnen, we were able to successfully purchase breakfast, lunch, and dinner with even a couple of dollars to spare for candy. When we got back to the Romero Center, we quickly made breakfast and hit the road for our daily task.

Each of the ten students was split into 2 groups, 5 each. The other group went to an adult daycare, where mine went to a greenhouse, tasked with putting in new stone. We had to get a wheelbarrow, walk a couple of blocks, collect stones from a pile, walk back to the greenhouse, dump them in, and repeat. It got very tiring, and after a couple of hours, we stopped for lunch. After a little break, we resumed our mission. At 2:00, Father Matt and the other group came to pick us up, and we went back to the Center. We were then informed that some of us had a “double shift”, meaning we had to go to a local soup kitchen and provide meals to the homeless. While there, we packaged meals, cleaned tables, tidied up silverware, and handed out the meals. Seeing the people be so happy receiving their meals was another awakening to us all to realize just how lucky we truly are. At 5:30, we returned to the Romero Center, ate dinner, and played board games until it was time to go to bed. We were very exhausted from the long and tiring work.

On Friday morning, at the same time as the day before, we were woken up to Father Matt’s music yet again. Once we got out of bed, we met at the main lobby. With the same groups as yesterday, we headed into our daily tasks. My group went to the school that was adjacent to the Romero Center. There, we arranged books in the library in alphabetical order, and Henry Daniel and I were able to help out in a fourth-grade class. We aided the students in math and gave them candy based on how many questions they could get right. We then proceeded to have recess with them and ate lunch with them. It was heartwarming to see them be so happy over so little. After, both groups returned to the Romero Center. The people who went to the soup kitchen the day before didn’t go again, and thus, we watched a video about a park in Camden called Pyne Poynt. Pyne Poynt used to be a dangerous park, but with the help of volunteers, it became a safe place and a fun haven for baseball. I was very tired in particular, so after the video, I took a nap. While waiting for the other group to come back, we played football outside with Father Matt.

When they came back, we ate dinner together. After, we played a version of Monopoly, where each person started with a different amount of money. This shows that some people are born into money, while others are less fortunate and are not. This activity, yet again, opened our eyes. After playing Monopoly, we had another prayer gathering where we reflected on the trip, such as documenting what was difficult and what we found to be exciting. After that, we played Uno downstairs with Father Matt until it was time to go to bed. 

On Saturday morning, we packed up our stuff and had one last prayer session before leaving. Luckily for us, because we were great the entire trip, Father Matt surprised us with a stop at Cracker Barrel. Both he and Ms. Finnen expressed gratitude for our hard work and shared that they had a great time with us. After being stuffed from all of the eggs and pancakes imaginable, we hit the road, and on the way back, we were finally blessed with our phones again. 

Not only did this trip serve as a nice time away from home, but it also showed the hard and challenging daily life of those who live in Camden. We at Oratory are so lucky to live comfortably and not to doubt when our next meal is, and that is something we all take for granted. While we sleep peacefully, those in Camden are anxious about whether they can keep their house, job, food on the table, etc. I would like to thank Father Matt, Ms. Finnen, and all of those who run the Romero Center for this amazing and eye-opening experience.