O U R
F R A N C I S C A N
S P I R I T
Midnight Run
“Give from your Cor”
Haitian Earthquake Relief & Response
During the school year, SFP partners with a community organization called Midnight Run whose mission is to connect people living in homes with those without housing. Their volunteers serve as “guides” for our buses bringing us to designated meeting areas throughout Manhattan.
The 2010 Thanksgiving Food Drive brought in a record number of donations to benefit nine different community agencies this year. Each Cor (homeroom) was tasked with collecting donations for one of these agencies. For example, some Cors were challenged to bring in enough food to feed one family for one week. The donated items were brought to the auditorium and blessed at the Thanksgiving Mass. Presentations were made by the students to representative from: St. Aloysius Social Outreach; Incarnation Food Pantry; Presentation Soup Kitchen; Hour Children’s House; Queen of Peace Residence; St. John’s Bread and Life; St. Mary Star of the Sea and St. Gertrude Catholic Church; and Women Helping Women. “The drive teaches the students the importance of assisting struggling families in our city and demonstrates what we can accomplish collectively as a Franciscan school,” said Christian Sullivan, Director of Campus Ministry.
Our students responded to the crisis in Haiti by conducting a variety of fund raising activities which helped raise over $13,000 from every part of the SFP Community. The proceeds of these efforts went directed to:
The SFP community gathers donations of clothing, hygiene products, blankets, and shoes in preparation for this outreach effort to our brothers and sisters who are homeless in NYC. Student volunteers are responsible to prepare meal bags, sort donations, and make care packages and then distribute these goods in person on the designated nights.
(1) Catholic Relief Services. (2) The Gaskov Clerge Foundation which sponsored a team of medical professionals who travelled to Haiti, bringing supplies and providing medical assistance. Our very own SFP alumna Dr. Anne Fils-AimeJoseph ‘83 was part of the that group. (3) The family of Mr. Boston Charles, member of our maintenance department, whose family was very adversely affected by the tragedy in Haiti. (4) An SFP student, who is a cousin of recent alumnae and was sent to live with her family in Queens after her Catholic school in Haiti was demolished. 23