Educating Service, Justice &forPeace
HERO-TO-HERO PROGRAM BLOOD DRIVE: The Pastoral Ministry Program holds Hoxworth Blood Drives throughout the year. Those who gave blood in November participated in the Hero-to-Hero Program by writing a brief note of thanks to one of our soldiers serving in Afghanistan. In addition, a special care package was attached to each note.
STUDENTS HOLD FUNDRAISER FOR CANCERFREE KIDS: Moeller sophomores Alex Marchionda, Matthew Wolf, Andrew Johnson, and Erik Mueller helped raise more than $1,000 for CancerFree Kids with their Haunted Trails fundraiser in October. This event is held in the Miami Trails neighborhood in Loveland, and the young men created and set up an entire haunted trail that entertained the neighborhood children. They raised the kids’ spirits for Halloween, and at the same time they raised money to fund pediatric cancer research. “We just can’t say enough about these young men,” said Marla Hricovsky from CancerFree Kids. “They are another fine example of the Men of Moeller in our community.”
ST. JOSEPH’S SERVICE PROJECT: Thirteen Men of Moeller helped clean out and organize two garages and several storage and record rooms at the St. Joseph Parish in the West End: Brett Carlin, Mitch Hoelker, Adam Gigax, Connor Hanson, Patrick Schenk, Mitch Meece, Will Ittenbach, Andrew Olinger, Matt Messina, Jake Wermes, Daniel Bruns, Chris Wright, and Nick Wright. (Beth and Steve Wright, along with Rick Ittenbach provided the parental support.) “St. Joseph’s has a really strong community,” says parent volunteer Wright. “The parish and school date from 1846, and it’s the longest-operating Catholic grade school in Cincinnati. The parish was originally mostly Germans, as you might guess, and the original church records are in German and Latin.
VETERANS DAY CELEBRATION: One of Moeller’s annual celebrations is the Veterans Day Assembly honoring those who served our nation. This year Moeller focused on our World War II veterans by supporting the Honor Flight Network, which is directed locally by Moeller alumnus Ed Finke ’64. Honor Flight takes World War II veterans to the memorials in Washington, D.C., free of charge. Following the Veterans Day assembly, Moeller took a collection in Mentor Group to help send World War II veterans to Washington, D.C., as part of the Honor Flights Program. The Veterans Day Program keynote speaker, alumnus Ed Finke ’64, described his passion for recognizing the men and women who served America during World War II. The students collected more than $2K, which will send five World War II vets to Washington, D.C. Debbie Huling was Moeller’s special guest. She is the mother of J.P. Huling ’04 who was killed in May while serving in Afghanistan.
BREAST CANCER AWARENESS: In October Moeller teamed up with Elder 200 for the Pink Ribbon Girls who support women with breast cancer. This year they raised more than $3,200 for the Pink Ribbon Girls who support women with breast cancer. Pictured: Michelle Hodge (mother of senior football player Charlie Hodge) and Tracie Metzger (co-founder/executive director, Pink Ribbon Girls) pose at the PINK Ribbon game. The football players collected an additional $500 at the gate.
HURRICANE SANDY RELIEF: The families of Chaminade High School in Mineola Long Island, NY, were hit hard by Hurricane Sandy, and some families completely lost their homes. Bro. Dick Hartz, S.M., a Marianist Brother at Chaminade, told Bro. Flaherty, S.M., that financial support would be beneficial to their community at this time. Therefore, Moeller is sponsoring a collection at the Family Mass on December 9 to benefit the Chaminade community in Long Island. If you would like to help this Marianist community, please send your financial donation to Moeller, c/o Pastoral Ministry, (Hurricane Sandy Relief), 9001 Montgomery Road, Cincinnati, OH 45242.