Inver Grove Family to Travel to Kenya as Part of Visitation School Group

Editor’s Note: The following is from a press release from Visitation School.

Ten students and seven chaperones from Visitation School—including a family of three from Inver Grove Heights—will travel to Mutomo, Kenya, in June.

To help raise money for Mutomo Hospital, Team Mutomo—the name of Visitation’s group—will sponsor a 5K fun run/walk at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 31, starting at Visitation School, 2455 Visitation Drive, Mendota Heights.

The cost per person for the Run/Walk is $20. Everyone who signs up will receive a Team Mutomo t-shirt and snacks.

Registration on the day of the event is $25 per person. 

To register, visit www.visitation.net, enter "Team Mutomo" in the search box, and click on the “5K Registration” link.

A registration form is available by clicking here. 

ABOUT TEAM MUTOMO

Last year, Team Mutomo worked with the Sisters of Mercy, who operate a hospital and numerous mobile clinics through which doctors and nurses maintain the health of their patients, even though conditions in this rural area of Kenya are quite dire due to drought, poverty and high rates of disease (including HIV/AIDS). This year, Team Mutomo will once again support and improve the conditions of the hospital’s programs and provide comfort to many of the children who are ill.  

ABOUT THE GRUTZNER FAMILY

For the Grutzner family of Inver Grove Heights, this trip has taken on an even bigger significance. Dr. Eric Grutzner, an endodontist, traveled with his daughter Mackenzie, then a junior, to Mutomo last year. There, the father-daughter team spent a considerable amount of time working in Mutomo Hospital’s dental clinic and at local schools where they taught hundreds of children how to brush their teeth.

This year, both Eric and Mackenzie are excited to be joined by Mackenzie’s mother, Barb, a nurse, who says that she and her husband always wanted to do mission work together.

“I hope the trip will make my family become closer,” said Mackenzie. “Already this year, we have spent days talking about the trip, collecting and packing medical supplies and also telling all of our friends about the trip.  We have gotten closer already, and I am looking forward to this experience.”

Visitation School’s faculty and staff recognize the importance of sending students into the world—both locally and globally—to make positive changes and learn about the world’s many cultures and concerns.

Philip Goldman—the trip’s lead chaperone, a Visitation board member and the coordinator of Team Mutomo’s efforts in Kenya—had this to say: “This year’s trip will work to sustain and deepen the hope in Mutomo, not only by supporting the hospital’s operations, but also by offering a way for students to intimately learn how their actions and studies can positively impact the world.”

Barb echoes Philip’s sentiments:  I think this is such a fabulous opportunity for Visitation to really take its school motto—“Not for School, But for Life”—into the world. This experience is for life and will hopefully start a lifelong yearning for service for our young women.” 

TO DONATE TO THE EFFORT

Individuals who are unable to participate in the Run/Walk but who would like to make a financial donation to this work are invited to send contributions to Team Mutomo at Visitation School, 2455 Visitation Drive, Mendota Heights, MN 55120. Please write "Team Mutomo" in the memo line.

Electronic donations may be made by going to www.visitation.net and entering Team Mutomo in the search box.

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