Money and Prayers

U.S. Jesuit institutions hit the ground running to assist in tsunami relief efforts

THE DOLLARS raised by Jesuit schools in the United States for tsunami relief hit very impressive levels in very short order. Donation jars placed all over campus and sales of snacks in the lunchroom were among the ways that the Red Cross Club at Bellarmine College Prep (San Jose) raised over $5,100 in January. Fr. Edward Reese, SJ, of Brophy Prep (Phoenix), wrote in about the ways faculty, staff, and students raised more than $6,800, including "buck-a-jeans" day in which students buy out of the dress code and wear jeans for $1. And Brian Ricca, who directs community service at St. Ignatius College Prep (Chicago), reported tsunami-relief donations from students and their families of over $10,000.

Boston College's vigil for tsunami victims was one of many ways, from prayers to donations, that Jesuit institutions in the United States responded to the tragedy.

Other high schools were quick to weigh in as well: Boston College High, $3,500; Jesuit High (Portland, Oregon), $10,000; St. Ignatius High (Cleveland), $3,000; McQuaid Jesuit High (Rochester, New York), $8,300; Scranton Prep (Scranton, Pennsylvania), $2,200; University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy, $3,700; Cheverus High (Portland, Maine), $3,000.

At Loyola Academy (Wilmette, Illinois)-where teachers matched homeroom class donations, students shoveled snow for cash, and the hockey team charged $5 admission for games-donations topped $25,000. Donations from Jesuit High (Sacramento) faculty, students, parents, donors, and others topped $30,000.

The generosity was the same at Jesuit colleges and universities. Saint Joseph's University (Philadelphia) president Fr. Tim Lannon, SJ, aims to raise $50,000 through silent auctions, employee donations, and fundraising competitions in residence halls, among other ways. Fr. Joe McShane, SJ, president of Fordham University (the Bronx), drew $25,000 out of a discretionary fund and challenged the school to match it; Gonzaga University (Spokane) quickly started an ongoing payroll deduction program, knowing that funds will be needed in the affected countries far beyond immediate needs. And Santa Clara University responded to an appeal made by president Fr. Paul Locatelli, SJ, to the tune of $133,000.

At many schools, fund-raising for relief efforts went hand-in-hand with prayer services, masses, and organized discussions that ranged from the geologic aspects of the disaster to the social and moral imperative of giving assistance. At Strake Jesuit in Houston, according to community service coordinator Robert Cremins, relief efforts in Sri Lanka are the focus of its five-week Lenten Mission Drive. The University of Scranton is hosting a Lenten program focusing on the disaster that combines prayer and reflection in addition to requests for donations.

Most of the donations collected at Jesuit institutions went to support the work of the Jesuit Refugee Service and Catholic Relief Services, institutions chosen because of their low overhead.

Close to home

At some Jesuit institutions the disaster had painful immediacy. At Seattle University, for instance, maintenance worker Vanhny Phousouvanh is missing a brother-in-law in Thailand, and associate professor of engineering Nirmala Gnanapragasam, from Sri Lanka, spoke on campus about her memories of traveling from her hometown, Colombo, to the coast by train, the same one that had been wiped out by waves, killing most of its passengers. The parents, twin brother, and sister of a sixth-grader at St. Ignatius Loyola Academy in Baltimore are among the missing in Sri Lanka.

In some cases, members of the broader Ignatian family in the United States were actual eyewitnesses. Bobby Gavin, head of the English department at St. Ignatius College Prep in San Francisco (and an '84 alumnus of St. Xavier High, Cincinnati), was on a snorkeling boat off the coast of Thailand when the waves rolled in. Gavin credits his and his fellow vacationers' survival to the skill of the captain at riding out the seas. Bellarmine Prep (Tacoma) student Natalie Chan and her family were on a beach in Thailand when the tsunami hit; they narrowly escaped to high ground. Natalie brought her harrowing story back to school; she and fellow students sold "Turning the Tide" T-shirts at $10 each during lunch and at basketball games, raising $7,000 for tsunami relief.

Jesuit provinces in the United States were quick to pledge support for relief efforts by direct contributions, particularly to the Jesuit Refugee Service, and through mailings and web site appeals for donations. On the New Orleans Province web site, Fr. R. Bentley Anderson, SJ, theology professor at Saint Louis University, gives a first-hand account of the devastation in Sri Lanka, where he was visiting (www.norprov.org/news/anderson.htm). His and a fellow Jesuit's plan to go to the beach early December 26 hit a snag: "We were delayed leaving Trincomalee by approximately one hour. Those 60 minutes made all the difference that day." About to set out, they were cryptically warned by a resident, "Do not take the inner harbor road because the sea is." The statement was strange enough to make them take a cautious look down at the waterfront, where waves were washing boats over the seawall. During their careful journey up the coast in the aftermath of the tsunami they witnessed many scenes of death and destruction.

"The need is great," Anderson concluded, "so is the opportunity to help."

Go to www.jesuit.org for more information about tsunami relief.

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