Groups Of Extraordinary Students

The summer of 2008 fulfilled a life-long dream of mine and began the most amazing journey!  I grew up listening to my Godmother, Sister Kathleen Marie Skurka, share her mission trip stories and love of ‘her’ Peruvian children.  Although I was unable to join her on her trips to Peru, Sister’s Pennies for Peru program and her passion for her mission work left a huge impression on me.  In the late stages of Sister’s life, she brought Chris Percy into my life and soon after our GOES Mission was created.

Many years later, it is with great pride that we are who we are today, a Groups Of Extraordinary Students. Years have passed and hundreds of students and adults have been a part of our G.O.E.S. family, reaching all the way from Maine and  Massachusetts, to California and Alabama. But we will never forget the first 19 students that came from New Jersey and gave us our start.

Since our conception in 2007, we have been traveling to the Dominican Republic working in the villages of Pueblo Nuevo, Luperón, El Estrecho Abajo, and La Sabana. For the first few years, we traveled with the Village Mountain Mission Project and decided to branch off and become our own organization in 2012. Since then, we have been collaborating with locals to build houses that have evolved over time as have our relationships with the people.

In 2018 GOES added other locations, in addition to the Dominican Republic, to our service sites.  In 2018 we travelled to Peru, in 2019 we served on the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation in Arizona, and in 2020 we will be working on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana.

Throughout all of our years, our focus has always been on the families that we are building for and the people we are building with. While our participants may change, our desire to create an intercultural experience will always be at the heart of who we are.

~Donna Milana

“So you’re like Habitat for Humanity…right?”

“Not really… Yes we build houses. But….what we really focus on is the relationship that develops over time between the local Dominican people and our participants. While the physical reward of what we do is a house, the emotional journey that happens is much more powerful.”

Our trip has many goals, both physical and emotional. Pavlov talked about the seven basic needs of a human being. One of them, is shelter. Many people living in the communities we work in live in substandard conditions. Their houses flood during rain storms. Children don’t sleep well because of fear of bugs and and unsafe houses. But most influential is the lack of self-respect and self worth that many families have as they live their day to day in houses ready to fall over at any moment. The gift of shelter is one that our families will have with them for the rest of their lives. As they move into their new homes, they speak of a heightened sense of dignity and self worth. Parents speak of their children growing up in a home they never thought they would have. And families speak of spending time together laughing and enjoying relatives who now come to visit.

But the trip is more than that… The emotional experience that happens cross culturally and within our groups is unforgettable. Youth and adults all become students as they learn about another culture through food, dance, work, and conversation. They bond with the families we are currently building for and always go back to take care of the families from the past years. Our participants also interact with children both on and off the job sites. Kid are an integral part of G.O.E.S. and we intentionally focus on them as they are the future. In 2014 we began working with kids in a more focused setting, doing crafts to help them with their fine motor skills, reading and telling stories to help with their imaginations, and learning various words in English so they can interact with participants.

In 2014, we also stared interacting with an orphanage in Cofresi, just outside of Puerto Plata. As building both physically and emotionally is at the center of all we do, we built a three room bathroom for Casa Tesoro de Dios and established what we hope will be a long lasting relationship with Pastor Joel and the young children of the orphanage.

And finally, we focus on ourselves. We look internally at how we are affecting change in the world with the work that we do. We talk about making a difference in the lives of the people we come into contact with on a daily basis just as much as with our Dominican families. And we look to the future as we challenge each other to light candles throughout the world, making it a brighter place.

Donna Gantt Milana was born and raised on the Jersey Shore.  As her four children entered school, she returned to teach at her alma mater, Donovan Catholic High School, in Toms River NJ.  For twenty+  years, she taught at Donovan Catholic HS, and was active in the alumni association.  She also served on the Board of Directors for the Village Mountain Mission Project for three years.  Donna’s passion for mission work began in high school with Sister Kathleen Marie’s “pennies-for-Peru” program.  It was Sister Kathleen Marie who brought Donna and Chris together to ultimately form GOES. Donna currently reside in Auburn, Alabama.

 Chris Percy, Chewonki’s Spanish teacher, hails from the beaches of New Jersey. He began his learning and love of the language in high school, where he also developed a passion for service to others. After earning a degree in Hispanic Studies with a concentration in Education at Connecticut College, he spent six months on a tall ship, then four years teaching Spanish near his hometown in Toms River, New Jersey. While teaching, Chris continued to travel, expanding on his time already spent in Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, Colombia, Mexico, and two months in an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. It was when traveling that he caught the fever for the Hispanic culture and left teaching to pursue his developing passion for humanitarian work. He then gave four years of service to “The Village” Mountain Mission Project as the In-Country Coordinator, living in solidarity with the economically poor of the Dominican Republic and building over 30 houses with youth from the United States. His love of nature and family brought him back to the States and Maine where he has continued to enjoy hikes with his dog Rubio, reading, and spending quality time with good people. He has recently taken up pottery and expanding a new interest in farming. 

Born in northern New Jersey, JoAnn Giacalone D’Anton has called the Jersey Shore her home for the last twenty-plus years with her loving husband Victor and two beautiful children, Victoria & Anthony. She enjoyed a very successful career in New York City in Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations with esteemed and renowned work throughout the metropolitan area. Ten years ago, JoAnn listened to the voice in her heart, changed careers and became a teacher. Since then, she has taught, inspired and changed the lives of children ages three to eighteen with unmitigated energy and joy! Her position as director of Media Arts at Donovan Catholic has given her the opportunity to teach and direct students in television and radio production.  Five years ago, JoAnn, again, listened to the voice in her heart when she was called to the Village Mountain Mission Project in the Dominican Republic. It was here that she discovered a unique love as the people of the village taught, inspired and changed her life with their pure, unmitigated, unadulterated, energy and joy amidst abject poverty. Forever changed, she has travelled back to the Dominican every year with her family and lifelong best friend Donna Milana. This life-changing experience was the miracle in JoAnn D’Anton’s life that created GOES.

Kyle Milana graduated from Monsignor Donovan High School in 2008 and went on to Auburn University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.  He attended the very first GOES trip which influenced his career choice. Kyle is currently a registered nurse at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington D.C. Kyle serves as our medical professional on each trip and keeps us healthy and productive!