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AMDG: A Jesuit Podcast

Why this Jesuit Swam Six Miles (!) with Very Little Training

Last month, Matt Wooters, a Jesuit brother from the Midwest Province, decided he was going to try and swim six miles for a birthday fundraiser benefiting the immigration legal aid group RAICES. The only problem was he only had a few weeks to train and it’s not like he was doing long-distance swims all the time. But as Brother Matt is wont to do, he just went for it. His effort struck a cord, and the the fundraiser blew up on social media. With an original goal of $1000, he blew past that right away and ended up raising over $23,000 for RAICES. Host Mike Jordan Laskey chats with Matt to ask him about the swim, his thoughts on why he thinks the fundraiser did so well, and how his experience working with immigrant families has affected his view of our political discourse around migration. Matt was also the first participant in a new segment on the show, which we’re calling 20 Questions, so stay tuned for that at the end of the episode. As we continue to grow here at AMDG, we’d really appreciate it if you could leave us a nice review on iTunes, subscribe to the show wherever you listen, and tell your friends and family about it.
Broadcast on:
12 Aug 2019

Last month, Matt Wooters, a Jesuit brother from the Midwest Province, decided he was going to try and swim six miles for a birthday fundraiser benefiting the immigration legal aid group RAICES. The only problem was he only had a few weeks to train and it’s not like he was doing long-distance swims all the time. But as Brother Matt is wont to do, he just went for it. His effort struck a cord, and the the fundraiser blew up on social media. With an original goal of $1000, he blew past that right away and ended up raising over $23,000 for RAICES. Host Mike Jordan Laskey chats with Matt to ask him about the swim, his thoughts on why he thinks the fundraiser did so well, and how his experience working with immigrant families has affected his view of our political discourse around migration. Matt was also the first participant in a new segment on the show, which we’re calling 20 Questions, so stay tuned for that at the end of the episode. As we continue to grow here at AMDG, we’d really appreciate it if you could leave us a nice review on iTunes, subscribe to the show wherever you listen, and tell your friends and family about it.