Celine (Bernstein) O'Neill
Narberth, Pa.
Class of 1991
Major: Journalism
I am passionate about my community. Whether it is porch parties with my neighbors, or charitable events with the women's group in my town, my children's school or local politics, I am involved.
I believe this is due my four years at St. Bonaventure. There is no one lesson or teacher or class or person I can attribute this to, but St. Bonaventure left me with a spirit of service. A spirit of making a difference in the world one person at a time. A spirit of community.
We recently have made the leap from being involved in our local community to helping children worlds away from our own. My husband is deployed with an Army civil affairs unit to Afghanistan. He sees the children who are desperate to learn. They sit on the dirt in outside schoolrooms, or three sit together at one desk, sharing one notebook.
At home, my oldest daughter read Greg Mortenson's “Three Cups of Tea,” and soon the idea to get books to the children of Afghanistan, in their own language, was born. And here's the story, from our local paper. Additional details are available on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Operation.Read.It.Again.