St. Leo fifth-grader Thomas Thompson helps Catholic Charities’ Becky Dubois (left) and Paola Quiterio Candelaria (right) with loading supplies he and other students collected over the past two weeks for Hurricane Florence victims.WINSTON-SALEM — Students at St. Leo School recently loaded up a van full of donations bound for victims of Hurricane Florence in eastern North Carolina.
The students and their principal, Gary Callus, pitched in during a two-week donation drive in partnership with Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte. On Oct. 17, Catholic Charities’ staff delivered the donations to their counterparts in the Diocese of Raleigh, for distribution to people in need.
“We wanted to help ease the suffering of our friends and neighbors to the east who lost everything in the aftermath of the storm,” Callus said. “We wanted to be able to immediately help victims and knew partnering with Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte would help us achieve our goal.”
St. Leo collected much-needed supplies to help victims of the hurricane, filling the Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte van with water, wipes, diapers, canned goods, personal hygiene items, cleaning supplies and more.
Many of the donations came from one student in particular: fifth-grader Thomas Thompson. He had asked for hurricane donations in lieu of gifts at his recent birthday party. When asked why, he replied, “People were really hurt by the hurricane. They lost their clothes and houses. I just wanted to give back and help people.”
“The students and families at St. Leo Catholic School can always be counted on to help,” said Becky Dubois, director of Catholic Charities’ Piedmont Triad Region. “It’s a very generous and giving community of people. They truly put their faith into action.”
— Melissa Kinsley, Special to the Catholic News Herald. Melissa Kinsley is the director of marketing, communications and admissions at St. Leo School.
You can help, too!
At www.ccdoc.org: Join with Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte to help families trying to recover from Hurricane Florence
Pictured are (from left) St. Leo Principal Gary Callus; students Thomas Thompson, Jack Galyon, Adrian York, Lalille Nguyen, Emory Meyer, Charlotte Kinsley, Sofia Pardino and Frantz Pierre; and Catholic Charities’ Becky Dubois. (Photos provided by Melissa Kinsley)
HENDERSONVILLE — Immaculata School recently accepted a $5,240 donation from Shuler Funeral Home to go towards the purchase and installation of new playground equipment.
Shuler Funeral Home was instrumental in helping the school raise these funds through their crowd-funding site, Treasured Memories. Immaculata has raised over 50 percent of its goal to purchase the playground that will be named in memory of former student Malachi Siltzer, a 2016 victim of cancer.
Contributions can be mailed to Malachi’s Playground, Immaculata Catholic School, 711 Buncombe St., Hendersonville, NC 28791 or online at www.gofundme.com/malachi039s-playground.
— Julie Wojcik