Over 7,300 miles away in Lare, Kenya, a school community is enjoying the fruits of a recent donation from a Fresh Meadows high school.
Back in October, the Diocese of Brooklyn honored St. Francis Preparatory School at its World Mission Sunday celebration for donating $22,700 in support of the Saint Francis Secondary School. The donation was part of the school’s continued support for international charities and went toward tuition assistance, nutritional aid and several new construction projects.
The student body, parents and alumni raised funds during the school’s 2019 Lenten collection, which included a T-shirt sale and monetary donations. All funds went toward the Franciscan Brothers of Galway, the same religious organization that started St. Francis Prep in 1858.
“As a Franciscan school, we do our best to remember our call to work in solidarity with our global brothers and sisters. I am so very proud of the contributions of our faculty, staff, students, and alumni who humbly walk with our Franciscan brothers and sisters in Kenya and live out the Gospel message every day,” said St. Francis Prep Principal Patrick McLaughlin.
The Franciscan Brothers of Galway put funds toward SFP’s twin school in Lare to provide students with tuition assistance, nutritional aid and construction of paved campus walkways and a new basketball court. Additionally, two school alumni, Dr. Joseph Pantaleo, ’03 and Dr. Kamica Lewis, ’99, coordinated dental and medical professionals to provide care for the Lare community for the third consecutive year.
In the past, St. Francis Prep has also donated bicycles for student transportation, new computer equipment, a photocopy machine, desks and chairs, books, a new water tower and a school van to benefit the students in Lare.
