Mount Carmel High School:
2012 Lenten Project for St. Paul's Newman Center
Description: Provide work-study scholarships for poor students to attend a quality Catholic high school, and also supply meals for volunteer teachers.
Purpose: To open up educational opportunities for hard-working students who can't afford tuition, and to meet the needs of the volunteer teachers whose help is so crucial to the school's operation.
Location: Benque Viejo, a suburban town about 80 miles west of Belize City, in the Central American country of Bleize
Cost: $24,750 supports scholarships for 24 students, plus daily meals for 10 volunteer teachers for a year.
Highlights
- Mount Carmel Highschool was founded in 1990 as a place where poor and academically struggling students could access a quality Catholic education.
- The school's reputation for discipline, character formation, and academic rigor is increasingly attracting students from families of better means. Nevertheless, Mount Caramel has stayed faithful to its mission and has never turned down a student whose family was unable to afford tuition.
- To cover the costs of education those who cannot pay, Mount Carmel depends on the support of Cross International Catholic Outreach, which has committed to providing work-study scholarships for 24 students this year.
- Though Mount Carmel now has a salaried staff, it continues to depend on the help of volunteer teachers from abroad to give students the top-notch education for which the school is know. Cross Catholic provides meals for these teachers.
History of our Lenten Project
Since 2004, St. Paul’s Newman Center has sponsored an annual Lenten project to raise funds and awareness for worthy organizations who make a significant and positive difference in the lives of the poor around the world. The parish has made a commitment to give 10% of every Sunday Gift Offering throughout the Lenten season to those who are less fortunate. Student and resident parishioners have also made direct donations to these projects. Since that time our Lenten Projects have raised over $147,000.
| 2004 | Heifer International | $6,663 |
| 2005 | Catholic Relief Society | $5,000 |
| 2006 | Food for the Poor, Jamaica | $12,000 was raised, $12,000 matching challenge grant |
| 2007 | Water for Life (through CRS) 2nd Street Station, Laramie |
$8,525 $4,817 |
| 2008 | Stella Maris in Nigeria, West Africa | $20,015 |
| 2009 | Little Children of Jesus, Food for Poor | $32,715 |
| 2010 | Cross International Catholic Outreach | $20,150 |
| 2011 | Food for the Poor - Journey of Hope | $25,184 |
When we see or hear about the tremendous suffering of the poor, we often feel helpless. The problem seems immense. But, here at St. Paul’s Newman Center, we try to think about helping just one person, one family, one need at a time, and we have seen that we can make a difference.
