01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, July 23, 2005

NAPLES, Fla.

GROWING UP in Rhode Island was, indeed, a privilege. Whether I was strolling on the beach at Narragansett or on the campus at Providence College, walking to my piano lesson on the East Side, serving as class president at Classical High School, or attending services in one of the many churches in the various ethnic neighborhoods, Rhode Island always seemed somehow to fit like an old glove that one doesn't want to throw away. A pretty good start for anyone!

My life has since taken me way beyond the borders of the Ocean State.

Recently, remembering an article by a journalist friend who had visited India, and also my own (PC-sponsored) studies in world religions at the University of Fribourg, in Switzerland, I decided to make an exploratory journey to India, an ancient land of saints, mystics, and sages. Perhaps my admiration for former California Gov. Jerry Brown, who spent a year in India serving Mother Teresa, was obsessing me. Or maybe it was a Princess Diana fixation on doing good.

At any rate, I was certainly trying to be a good "Tasca." For decades, the Tasca family has involved itself in local charitable ventures. Whether spearheading alumni fundraising at Providence College, providing a fleet of autos for the Dominican Fathers, or furnishing Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas packages for Providence's needy through St. Anthony's House, in Elmwood, everything seems to make more sense when one helps others.

I remembered also that as a boy I had worked with my father and uncle and the Catanzaro family under a contract given by Pope John XXIII to produce the religious medallions for the Vatican pavilion at the 1964 World's Fair. Perhaps something ecumenical was in order!

Already, with the generosity of a family member and the Dominican Fathers, I had been able to fund the building of St. Thomas Catholic School, in India. I was ready for new explorations in that great but needy land.

Thus, in the fall of last year, I found myself bound for the state of Kerala, in India. I disembarked in Fort Cochin, in the revered land of Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa of Calcutta. What revelations awaited!

Kerala is a tropical paradise. Once a major destination on the Marco Polo spice-trade route, it has at various times been conquered by the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British. Monuments to these imperial enterprises greeted me everywhere. Yet I was soon to discover that this Eden, with about 400 miles of the world's most beautiful coastline, remains largely undeveloped and poor. The annual per-capita income is $1,000.

Through the mirage of jet lag, I experienced the sights and sounds. The avenues were crowded with humanity and more -- bicycles, taxis, rickshaws, the occasional cow, goat, dog, and cat. Gradually, through street and narrow lane, I made my way to the Fort Heritage Hotel, in historic downtown Fort Cochin. This extraordinary Dutch-colonial building, a model of preservation, offered a haven from the cacophony of the streets and the endless poverty and misery that had greeted me thus far.

Here, I would discover the wonderful hospitality of the Indian people. These humble and loving people quickly enter into one's heart. My every need was meticulously cared for, almost before I expressed it. To this day, I long for their attentive smiles, kind words, and helpfulness.

Having settled in for a visit that would last nearly three weeks, and having refreshed myself with the world-renowned Kerala cuisine (a vegetarian's heaven!), I set out for my ultimate destination: the St. Gregory's Charity Home, and a meeting with its founder, Sister Susan Kuruvilla, whom many regard as a saint.

St. Gregory's is a large walled-and-gated compound about 17 miles from downtown Fort Cochin. This charitable institution is home for more than 100 orphans, elderly people, people with mental handicaps, and the otherwise indigent.

The center of life at St. Gregory's is the chapel, erected in 1991 by generous benefactors from Malta and the United States. This structure stands as testimony to the efforts of St. Thomas the Apostle, who, journeying from Jerusalem in A.D. 52, established here a bulwark for the then-fledgling Christian faith.

It stands as well as testimony to the singular determination of Sister Susan Kuruvilla, whom many consider India's new Mother Teresa. Her life has been documented on Indian television, and a documentary should soon be available in North America. Upon meeting her, I understood that I was in the presence of greatness.

The emotion was deep as a certain confusion manifested itself in me. How does one from a society so rich comprehend the destitution and suffering of children abandoned by parents who cannot afford them, women widowed or abandoned by their spouses, the mentally retarded, and the otherwise handicapped who populate the landscape of India. It is these whom the remarkable and saintly Sister Susan somehow shelters, feeds, clothes, educates, and cares for.

I am certain that it is these to whom I, too, will spend the rest of my life in service.

Days turned into weeks as I explored the natural and historic beauty of Kerala. Shopping sprees produced sacks of much needed foods -- lentils, beans, and rice, staples in the Indian diet -- at about 25 cents a pound! Likewise, material for clothing, pillows, and bedsheets for the orphans, sandals for the children and old folks, and, miracle of miracles, a milk cow and her three-day-old calf, donated by Robert A. Bartelme, a generous businessman friend in Naples, Fla.

The gratitude on the faces of the many residents of St. Gregory's is more than ample reward. I find a sense of something more meaningful, of a higher purpose in life, is blossoming in me. I have fallen in love with India and its poor and needy. And I have been blessed to know and serve a great modern saint.

My return home was marked by both fatigue and a sense of urgency about forthcoming changes in my life. While charity begins at home, the charity so customary to my family was taking on global proportions. The sense of fulfillment in helping those unable to help themselves, except through the generosity of another, was compelling. How would I continue?

Conversations with businessmen friends led to establishing The Mercy Fund Inc., a federal tax-exempt public charity. What had begun as a journey to a foreign land has now taken root in an charitable endeavor that seeks to support the many poor who rely for help upon those who have more.

The Mercy Fund board of directors has inaugurated a development drive, with an eye toward building a permanent residential facility for St. Gregory's Charity Home. The proposed facility will include a modern dormitory and dining, kitchen, office, and study spaces. Plans are also being made, and funds sought, to expand the clinic, which provides free medical care to the endless number of needy, including the lepers whom society often shuns.

A journey begun some 52 years ago in Providence -- where I learned from family and in neighborhood, school, and church that a life of loving service is a life well lived -- continues. In a world at war, it feels good to have stepped onto the path of peace.

For further information on the Indian project, visit www.themercyfund.org, or contact The Mercy Fund Incorporated, Post Office Box 545, Naples, Fla. 34106. Or call toll-free: (866) 343-7233.

Richard Tasca is a retired businessman living in Naples, Fla.