Along with Camino and Hearts and Hunger, the Irish4Life club held a fundraiser and community outreach event to benefit Sister BJ’s Pantry.
In order to fund a breakfast at Sister BJ’s Pantry, the group hosted Mini Golf Monday at Brickopolis where they raised over $150.
“It was definitely a lot of work,” senior Gia-Luc Nguyen said. “We had to replan everything at least three times.”
The following Saturday they hosted breakfast for the pantry.
“I thought it was an amazing experience,” senior John Nguyen said. “I just thought it was really helpful that the kids from this school were able to come support the community and to help cook for the homeless.”
Gia-luc Nguyen said the experience helped broaden his perspective on homelessness.
“It’s not every day that people get to interact face to face with the homeless, and I think that really helps us see that they’re also people,” Gia-luc Nguyen said. “They have their own struggles. So do we, but theirs is just more fundamental.”
Theology teacher and Irish4Life sponsor Tom March joined his students by volunteering at the Saturday morning breakfast.
“I think also the interaction, especially when they went and they sat and they talked, they experienced how much in common they had with people that we see on street corners and we drive by all the time, that seems so different,” March said.
March added that he thought it was impactful for students to hear stories from those they served and to see their similarities.
“I think that not so much the serving of the food, but when the students stopped and interacted and saw the humanity in them and made them feel valued and important, I think that’s so much more important than the basic need,” March said.
