St. Francis Prep hosts ‘Drive Through’
food donation for parish soup kitchen
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
St. Francis Prep’s Office
of Campus Ministry, along
with 20 volunteers from the
Prep community, held its first
“drive-through” food donation
drop-off last month.
Prep’s principal, Patrick
McLaughlin, was a part of the
May 21 event that gave Prep
students and families, faculty
and staff members alike the
opportunity to drive through
the school parking lot and
drop off donations while practicing
social distancing.
Approximately 300 boxes
of non-perishable food
items were donated to benefit
the Presentation of the
Blessed Virgin Mary Parish
in Jamaica, which runs a
soup kitchen for those in need
within the community.
During the school year, St.
Francis Prep students, teachers
and staff volunteered their
time each week to help cook,
prepare and serve over 250
homeless people and those in
need. They even helped host a
Christmas dinner each December,
complete with students
from Prep’s music department
providing entertainment.
Over the past months, due
to the pandemic, the parish
has seen an increase in those
utilizing the soup kitchen.
The parish now feeds more
than 500 people, including
families, per week.
Since supplies were running
low, St. Francis Prep’s
Office of Campus Ministry
organized the food donation
drive.
Graduating seniors were
asked to bring items to Prep’s
senior drive-through, where
seniors had the chance to
pick up their caps and gowns
and other materials.
St. Francis Prep offers a
wealth of experiences to its
students, let alone the whole
school community. This includes
Leigh
CHENG
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LEIGH IS
STRONGLY
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countless and varied
opportunities through Prep’s
Office of Campus Ministry.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak,
St. Francis Prep has
undertaken the profound task
of ensuring that every single
one of its over 2,400 students
can receive a Franciscan education,
including being able
to walk in the footsteps of the
school’s namesake, St. Francis
of Assisi, who spent his
life helping those in need.
In recent weeks, Prep president,
Brother Leonard Conway,
reached out to families
advising them that no student
would be asked to leave
if their family was suffering
hardship due to the impact of
the pandemic.
On May 5, Conway and
Prep launched the Terrier-
STAR Program, or Student
Tuition Assistance & Relief,
with a heartfelt video plea.
Concurrently, the school,
whose beginnings go back
to 1858, saw alumni start to
reach out to offer any assistance
they could.
“We can’t let the pandemic
impact students who
deserve to finish a Prep education,”
an alum said. “Please
consider helping Prep educate
young men and women who
truly care about their society
and their world.”
Reach reporter Carlotta
Mohamed by e-mail at cmohamed@
schnepsmedia.com or
by phone at (718) 260–4526.
(From l. to r. ) St. Francis Prep Principal Patrick McLaughlin and
Campus Minister Marissa Rutolo, and Science Teacher/Hall of Fame
Coach Ann Marie Rich. Photo courtesy of St. Francis Prep
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