June 4, 2025 // Diocese

Holy Cross Sixth Grader Raises Money for Catholic Charities

Paula Lent

When the Lord moves your heart with compassion, how do you respond?

When sixth-grader Mary Lichon heard that Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend had to let go of some of its staff, her compassion immediately bore in her a desire to figure out how she could help support the organization’s work.

Photos provided by the Lichon family

As the daughter of John Paul Lichon, the founder of pilgrimage company Verso Ministries, and Katy Lichon, the director of the University of Notre Dame’s ALMA Initiative, which supports culturally diverse students seeking a Catholic education, Mary’s life has been uniquely shaped by her experiences. Through her mom’s involvement in a collaboration between their parish, Holy Cross, and Catholic Charities, Mary has witnessed the sacrificial love required to welcome a refugee family into a new life in South Bend. And she has personally experienced what it’s like to be a newcomer in a foreign land.

When Mary was in fourth grade, John Paul’s work led the family to move to Israel for six months. There, Mary suddenly found herself an outsider in a very new environment. Enrolled in a school that taught in Arabic and Hebrew, Lichon initially could not communicate with classmates. She couldn’t even do something as simple as write her name in a language they’d understand.

Reflecting on their family’s experience in an article on the ALMA website, Katy wrote: “What seemed to stick with us the most were the encounters and events in which we felt welcomed – or unwelcomed – and how being seen and present made all of the difference. It was only when ‘room was made’ for newcomers like us in the school did we feel connected, confident, and welcomed.”

Fittingly, when Mary decided she wanted to do something to support the work of Catholic Charities, she homed in on the word “welcomed.” Making use of her interests and talents, Mary decided to make bracelets that say, “Welcomed,” and sell them in order to raise money for the charity.

“I knew I wanted to help them, and I like doing crafts,” she told Today’s Catholic. “So I decided I was going to make bracelets.”

“I took inspiration from the quote from the Bible: ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me,’” Mary shared, referencing Matthew 25:35. “That’s why it says ‘welcomed.’”

Additional inspiration was taken from Pope Francis, Mary said: “And Pope Francis also said migrants and refugees are not a problem to be solved but brothers and sisters to be welcomed,” she added, referencing Pope Francis’ 2014 remarks for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees.

The bracelets are made with purple string, since her initial concept was a Lenten initiative, but Mary has continued to sell them. To date, she has raised more than $2,500, selling the bracelets at $15 a piece.

The bracelet sales reflect places Mary herself has been welcomed.

“Most of her teachers bought one, and Father Jim [Fenstermaker, pastor of Holy Cross Parish in South Bend] bought a couple, which was really sweet,” Katy shared. “We had some professors at Notre Dame buy some; and quite a few Holy Cross priests, actually.”

To raise awareness of the fundraiser, Mary made flyers using Canva that were distributed at her school and hung in her parents’ workplaces.

“Then, of course, the grandmas and all of their friends [bought some, too],” Katy added. “Mary’s had donations from probably 15 different states.”

“I felt really grateful that they wanted to support me and Catholic Charities, and I had a lot of fun, too,” Mary told Today’s Catholic.

Many of the bracelets were purchased through the use of a Google form that Mary created, and she and Katy worked together to package and mail them to recipients. The endeavor was a great entrepreneurial learning experience for 12-year-old Mary.

“Through my work and through my husband’s pilgrimage company, Mary has … an entrepreneurial spirit about her of like, ‘Yes, of course, let’s do it,’” Katy told Today’s Catholic. “She’s a very detailed child. We did the math, and she knew, ‘I need to order this much string and this many pieces,’” Katy shared, noting that it provided a great economics lesson in learning how to figure out how much all the materials cost and decide how to price the bracelets for a profit.

Katy said that Mary learned good “life lessons” through the business side of the fundraising endeavor, but she also emphasized the greater lessons that led Mary to embark on the project in the first place, and the simple but powerful lesson that was reflected through the process.

“I would say that without the school context, I don’t know if Mary would have thought to do all of these pieces,” Katy said. “Holy Cross [School] has uniquely formed Mary, and she understands Catholic social teaching – to the extent that a sixth grader can. … She understands that the call of the Church is much beyond what she receives – it’s what she can give back.”

Mary said that through the experience, “I learned that we need to be more helpful sometimes and to use things that we know [in order] to be better people.”

As for Katy, she was inspired by her daughter’s desire and quick action to make an impact for the benefit of others, even in a seemingly small way, giving of her time and talent; and she hopes others will be inspired as well.

“I think it’s really important that other kids see that it’s possible, and that even adults see: We can do something; we’re not powerless as these things unfold,” Katy reflected on her daughter’s example. “Kids have the most beautiful way of saying, ‘But what about the people? There are still people that need help, right?’ Mary clearly drew the connection between what Catholic Charities does and our refugee family and things of that nature. And it’s just a good response to hear your kids say, ‘Well what can we do?’”

“I think the life lesson is, too: Every little bit matters,” Katy said. “And it matters [that when we] see something that is sad, or there’s an injustice … [we recognize that] there is something we can do. I’m really proud that she’s internalized that.”

“If we could multiply Mary’s $2,500 multiple times over through multiple children or multiple families, yeah, what an impact we could have in our own communities.”