Jiovany Arriaga, Father Linus Klucsarits and Allison Stidham gather letters and gift cards to send to Saint John Paul II School in Houston, Texas to assist families after Hurricane Harvey.
CULLMAN – Students from Saint Bernard Middle School are assisting other students at Saint John Paul II School in Houston, Texas, after the devastation of Hurricane Harvey.
Father Linus Klucsarits, O.S.B., Saint Bernard Prep assistant headmaster, said he contacted the school to see what kind of support they needed and the biggest need was gift cards for families to rebuild their lives.
Father Linus set a goal of $1,000 and the students came through for him with gift cards from Wal-Mart, Lowe’s, Target, Amazon, Chick- Fil-A and Visa, totaling $1,095. All seventh- and eighth-grade students wrote letters of encouragement to send along to the families with the cards.
Students Jiovany Arriaga and Allison Stidham said they understand the devastation these families are currently experiencing. Jiovany has family in the Houston area, who were spared by the storm, but have shared the power and devastation of its aftermath through photos with his family.
Jessica empathized through her letter by sharing her own personal memories of the tornado that wiped out downtown Cullman in 2011. She offered prayers of encouragement to her friends in Houston to stay strong and know that God will provide.
Father Linus said he reached out to the Houston area to find a school similar in size to Saint Bernard and found Saint John Paul II to be the fit.
“We want those families to know we are thinking about them and praying daily for their strength in God and in family and friends, said Father Linus. “I want to thank our students and their families for answering the call to assist this school community. They came together as a school community in a very big way.”
