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Community Corner

When Irish Eyes Are Hopeful

A WD couple are honored for their work with Project Children, a project benefiting the children of Northern Ireland.

Usually on St. Patrick’s Day, Marie Hempsey of West Deptford cooks up a traditional Irish luncheon for her brood—a feast of ham, cabbage and homemade Irish soda bread.

This year, however, her kids may be on their own. Marie and Phil, her husband of 24 years, will be lunching at the Governor’s Mansion instead. Last week, the Hempseys were surprised to learn they were named two of the “Fifty Most Influential Irish People in New Jersey.” They, along with the other honorees, will be celebrated at a luncheon with Gov. Chris Christie at Drumthwacket, the gubernatorial homestead in Princeton.

The longtime West Deptford couple are being recognized for their years of work with Project Children, an American-Northern Ireland partnership which sponsors and hosts children from the inner cities of Northern Ireland throughout the United States each summer. Founded in 1975 during the peak of political violence in Northern Ireland, Project Children began as one New York couple’s attempt to reach out to the children of Belfast. That summer, founder Denis Mulcahy and his wife hosted six kids—three Protestant and three Catholics—at their Greenwood Lake, NY, home. Their goals were twofold—to remove the kids from the violence boiling over that summer, and to show them that they could actually live together happily.

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The Hempseys first applied to be a New Jersey host family in 1995—and they were promptly shot down. “I was pregnant with our son, Ryan, at the time, and we already had four children under 9,” Marie explains. “We were thanked for applying, but told this wasn’t right for us since we had so many children.”

It may have ended there, except for, in Marie’s words, “divine intervention.” That same year, the family attended an Irish festival in Gloucester City, and decided to walk to the park for water ice. There, they saw some women chasing pink fliers that were being blown around in the breeze. The Hempsey kids chased down the fliers, which announced the Project Children Mother’s Day dinner. The Hempseys considered this a sign, and continued to apply to host.

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They weren’t chosen, however, until 2000 when there was some more “divine inspiration.” This time it came in the form of Liam Doherty, a plumber straight from Ireland who was contracted to do some work with Phil, also a plumber. The two men hit it off, and the Hempseys feel that it was Doherty’s recommendation that helped them be accepted as host parents that year.

They remember the excitement they felt when they loaded their five children into their car and headed to New York City to pick up Jenny Carson, the 12-year-old from Belfast who was to be their guest for six weeks. Only Jenny Carson never got on the plane. Already feeling homesick, the little girl backed out at the last minute.

As the Hempseys turned to make their way back to West Deptford disappointed, they were told there was another child available—a boy that was considered “too hard to handle” by his original host.

“I thought we were going to have a kid stealing cars,” kids Phil, referring to the behavior common in riot-torn Belfast. Tentatively, the Hempseys opened their home to Sean Haughey, 12. It wasn’t long before their hearts were opened to the youngster as well.

“Sean spent three summers with us,” says Kelly Hempsey, 20, the family’s middle child and Marie’s “right hand” in her work as area coordinator for the program. The family is still in touch with Haughey, who now holds a master's degree and is teaching in Seoul, Korea.

Since that time, the Hempseys have hosted a variety of youngsters—male and female, Catholic and Protestant. They still remain close to several of the children, and only recall one summer when things didn’t work out—the summer of 2004 when they hosted two girls, one Protestant, one Catholic, both 14, who had to share a room with Kelly, then 14, and her sister Katie, then 16.

“Four teenage girls at once. What was I thinking?” Marie laughs now.

Marie is now coordinator for the tri-state area, and she spends much of her time trying to find hosts for the Irish children. This year’s program will run from June 30 through July 28. So far, Marie has eight host parents with 10 children coming right now. As always, demand for the program exceeds the number of volunteers. “If I could find 50 host families, I could bring 50 kids easily,” Marie says, noting that families do not have to plan lavish getaways or spend a lot of money on the children.

“Just throw some more spaghetti in the pot,” she says. “These kids don’t really need to see Disney World. What they need to see is a life without violence.”

The Hempseys also need help with fundraising so they can bring Conal Gorman, 14, back to NJ this year. Project Children pays for a child’s first visit to the United States, and host parents can chose to sponsor a child for a return visit. It costs $900 for air transportation and the area host families also hire a bus for $1,000 to transport the kids from the airport.

Their big fundraising event is coming up on April 9, when the Hempseys will host their annual Beef and Beer at the Richard T. Rossiter Memorial Hall in National Park. The evening features homemade food, a Chinese auction, beer on tap and two Irish bands, the Broken Shillelaghs and O’Farrelly’s Whiskey. Tickets are $20 a person and $35 a couple until St. Patrick’s Day, when they’ll go up $5 a person.

Donations for the Chinese auction or the buffet are also welcomed. For tickets or to discuss donations, call Marie at 609-330-4484.

She may not answer on St. Patrick’s Day, though. She’ll be busy dining with our governor, and she says she has an important issue to discuss with him.

“If I get a chance, I’m going to ask Gov. Christie if he’ll be a host parent this summer,” Marie says.

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