Student to Student

The National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) has begun the process of disbursing funds to Catholic arch/dioceses affected by the summer’s natural disasters. The storm-damaged Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston will be the first of several U.S. Catholic dioceses to receive assistance from the funds raised by Catholic school students. In August, NCEA began a national campaign that invited Catholic school families to donate at least $1 toward the Student to Student: A Catholic School Response to Hurricane Harvey campaign to help those Catholic school communities hardest hit by these events in the United States, the Caribbean and U.S. territories. The campaign eventually was renamed Student to Student: A Catholic School Response to Hurricane Relief 2017 to include those that followed Harvey and the wildfires in the west.

To date, 826 Catholic schools from across the country donated more than $600,000 to the NCEA campaign. You can view the entire list of those who participated in the campaign by clicking the link below. What made this campaign unique are the many ways Catholic school communities found to raise money: A challenge to collect $1 from each of the 500 students at Immaculate Conception Grade School in Elmhurst, Il, resulted in nearly $1,500; in the Archdiocese of Anchorage at Lumen Christi High School, the 300 students put on a taco lunch and raised more than $900. Non uniform days, car washes, jeans days, bake sales and good old-fashioned donation “jars” helped drive donations into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Arch/dioceses submitted appeals to NCEA requesting financial support for their Catholic school communities affected by storms and wildfires. Other dioceses that will receive funds for their Catholic schools include the Diocese of Venice, FL; the Diocese of Beaumont, TX; the Archdiocese of Miami; the Diocese of Corpus Christi; the Diocese of Santa Rosa, CA; the Archdiocese of San Juan, Puerto Rico and surrounding dioceses and the Diocese of St. Thomas, USVI.

Although the official campaign has ended, you can still help by mailing a check and updated donation form to: NCEA, Student to Student Campaign, P.O. Box 63392, Charlotte, NC 28263-3392.

NCEA will distribute 100 percent of the funds collected to dioceses in the affected areas for their Catholic school communities in vital need of support.

Please continue to pray for those affected by the storms and wildfires.

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