On May 14th, the Columban Fathers received a check in the amount of $11,135.48 from Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, PA for the Anapra Education Project. This miracle occurred because two individuals, Matt Sudnik and Charlotte Kendrick who attended the Lasallian Social Justice Institute in El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico felt inspired to make a difference in the lives of the children at the border.
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Charlotte (on the far right) teaches Spanish and Matt (next to her) teaches history and religion at Central Catholic. |
| It is our students, staff, and faculty that do the magic. Central Catholic is known throughout the Brother's community for its successful mission drives. I wrote a proposal to our administration asking that we give our money to Christina and her kids. Matt and I gave a presentation to our entire student body on Ash Wednesday at the start of Lent on Anapra, the situation there, and what Christina is trying to do for the youth in her colonia. The presentation was very well received by our students. We showed the Anapra Education Project Video and also presented a power point with personalized photos and reflections from our experience there this past summer. |
They also created a display at the high school, helping to further educate the students about life at the border and guiding them in ways to help.
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Why we do this? As a Lasallian school, we are called to have a special compassion for the poor. When we work amongst the poor, we truly enter a holy place. |
| Educating the students about life at the border. | |
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Small steps in the end make a huge difference!! |
Through bake sales from the Latin Club and National Honors Society to school-wide sponsored dress down days, to homeroom collections every day of Lent Central Catholic high school was able to raise the money. They also had a link on their website to give to the Mission Drive. Many parents and alumni of their school were able to make contributions that way. They also had doughnut sales in homeroom, and sponsored a Latin American Dance Night at their school.
In Charlotte’s words: “We are proud to be able to donate this money to a "modern day saint" who I'm convinced Christina Estrada is.”
Father Bill Morton, the primary supporter and fundraiser for El Buen Pastor, wrote to Charlotte and Matt to let them know how the money will be used: