Good Shepherd parishioners embrace uniform fund

    Dozens of families at St. Stephen Catholic School will receive a small break on their back-to-school expenses this fall, thanks to the generous faith community at Good Shepherd Parish in New Orleans.
    During a month-long appeal called “Christmas in July,” Good Shepherd parishioners were invited to select one or more paper ornaments from a tree in church listing the costs of various pieces of the school uniform worn at St. Stephen, Good Shepherd’s elementary school. The resulting donations, which totaled $3,517, will offset uniform-related costs for families identified by the school’s administration as being in need.
    “Every time we do a project to help anyone in need, the response has been just overwhelming,” said Laura Finnegan, president of Good Shepherd’s St. Vincent de Paul conference, which spearheaded the fund raiser.
    “Our congregation is just unbelievable,” Finnegan added. “I believe they’re really touched by the Holy Spirit!”

Anticipating a need

    The effort was the brainchild of St. Vincent de Paul member Cindy Gainsburgh, who organized a spring field trip in which St. Stephen’s seventh and eighth graders volunteered at the Rebuild Center at St. Joseph Church, a provider of daytime services to the city’s homeless.
    The parish-school collaboration was so successful, the Good Shepherd Vincentians, who prepare and serve a hot lunch at the Rebuild Center twice a month, began brainstorming additional ways to assist the school. A summer drive to fund new uniforms was inspired by members’ desire to augment St. Stephen’s existing “uniform exchange” program.
    “Cindy found (the school) had a program where students would recycle their uniforms from year to year, but all the (used) uniforms didn’t necessarily fit the student in need,” Finnegan said. “We also thought it would be nice for them to have something new to wear rather than a recycled uniform. Some of our parishioners even went out and purchased the actual items from the uniform shop.”

School delighted by outreach

    The endeavor comes at a pivotal time in the Uptown school’s history. St. Stephen, which welcomes students as young as age 2 and which will host its final class of eighth graders this school year, currently is home to about 250 students, including 67 former pupils from the recently closed Cathedral Academy.
    Although many students already had most of their school uniforms in hand before the Christmas in July fund raiser, Peggy LeBlanc, St. Stephen’s principal, said the fund will help her families purchase duplicate items such as blouses, shirts, skirts, pants, gym gear and school sweaters.
    “We are so humbled and grateful for our parishioners’ assistance, and the fact that they did this without us ever asking – the St. Vincent de Paul group did this on their own,” LeBlanc said. “They saw a need and they stepped up, and it means so much to our families.”

New students welcomed

    In addition to the 67 former Cathedral Academy students now attending St. Stephen, 15 Cathedral students are currently enrolled at St. Mary’s Academy and 13 attend St. Augustine Junior High. At St. Stephen, the newcomers’ transition was eased by a school tour held exclusively for Cathedral Academy families last March, and the hiring of a former Cathedral Academy teacher and teacher’s aide.
    Also at St. Stephen this year, both veteran and new students will have access to transitional classes in which youngsters who need extra assistance in reading and math can receive it in small classes of no more than 15 students.
    “They will work on grade-level material but at a slower pace, and be able to remediate (to regular classes) as they go through the material,” LeBlanc said, noting that sixth, seventh and eighth graders who need extra help will have access to in-house tutors to enhance their instruction.
    In yet another means of facilitating the transition of former Cathedral Academy students – who now are dispersed among 39 schools in the New Orleans area – the PLEASE Foundation, a volunteer effort established at Cathedral several years ago, will continue to reach out to the former students at their new campuses. Launched by Yvette Endom, the foundation supports families in their quest to give their children a Catholic education through high school graduation via need-based scholarships and one-on-one mentoring of families.
    At St. Stephen’s parent orientation night, scheduled for Aug. 29 from 7 to 9 p.m., families will be able to learn more about their children’s curriculum, hear about the school’s impressive strides in academics and student aptitude, and meet staff, including Msgr. Christopher H. Nalty, Good Shepherd pastor, and Rosie Kendrick, St. Stephen’s new assistant principal.
    At press time, the format for dispersing the Christmas in July funds was incomplete; however, LeBlanc said those families in most pressing need would be considered.
    “Everybody’s watching every penny right now and they don’t have any extras,” she said. “The (uniform assistance) will give these children the opportunity to come into a strong academic program and to be able to fit in. They can have the same uniforms everybody else has; they’re not getting the hand-me-downs; they’re getting new uniforms. They will feel like they’ve arrived!”
    Beth Donze can be reached at bdonze@clarionherald.org.