Bridges
to the Bayou
An Invitation to the
District of San Francisco
On
Monday, August 29, Hurricane
Katrina smashed into the
gulf coast states, bringing
incomprehensible destruction
to property and devastating
loss to families and communities.
Three Lasallian schools in
the New Orleans-Santa Fe
District -- De La Salle High
School and Christian Brothers
School in New Orleans, and
Saint Paul’s School
in Covington, Louisiana --
were hit extremely hard and
have closed.
The news stunned us here
in the District of San Francisco,
but an incredible spirit
is now flowing throughout
the District, and Lasallians
are reaching out to help
in many ways.
The Campus Ministry Office
of Saint Mary’s College
of California, in Moraga,
in cooperation with the Office
of Education at De La Salle
Institute in Napa, has gathered
ideas from around the District
and developed Bridges
to the Bayou.
Over the next few months,
we will encourage all the
schools in our District in
their relief efforts for
our fellow Lasallian communities
in Louisiana. Ours can be
a united response, community
to community and family to
family.
All of us have the option
of contributing to the relief
effort by other channels,
some of which are listed
at the end of this document.
However, if you would like
to contribute to a unified
fund, and if you would like
to join other Lasallian communities
throughout the San Francisco
District, please join us
in Bridges to
the Bayou .
Grounded in Lasallian tradition,
the program will have three
components:
- practical student-to-student
involvement and service-learning;
- educational opportunities;
and
- a celebration with prayer
and reflection.
First, we
will be practical, focusing
on the real human needs by
collecting donations from
throughout the District of
San Francisco. Students from
Saint Mary’s College
will initiate student-to-student
contact with student leaders
in all our school to promote
each school’s response.
Donations raised in Bridges
to the Bayou will
be sent as a gift from the
District of San Francisco
to the Christian Brothers
Conference in Landover, Maryland,
which is acting as clearinghouse
for funds directed to the
communities of the New Orleans-Santa
Fe District. These funds
will go first toward the
basic needs of these families
and, second, toward the relocation
and rebuilding of the schools
and their communities.
The Saint
Mary’s College Campus
Ministry office is happy
to collect any financial
donations. Donations can
be brought to campus or can
be mailed. Checks should
be made payable to “Saint
Mary’s College, Hurricane
Relief” and should
be mailed to:
Campus Ministry – Hurricane
Relief
Saint Mary’s
College of California
P.
O. Box 4777
Moraga, CA 94575-4777
Second, Bridges
to the Bayou will
prepare and distribute
educational information
for use in schools throughout
our District. This material
will provide some basic
information on the wetlands
of the Mississippi Gulf
and the story of hurricanes.
The material will focus
on the powerful relationship
between wind, water and
earth. Additionally,
we hope to provide some
historic and current
information on the work
of the Christian Brother’s
New Orleans-Santa Fe
District: the schools,
communities, and families.
Third, we will celebrate
the success of this campaign
as we gather for the “Liturgy
of Lights” at the Saint
Mary’s College Chapel
on Sunday, December 4, 2005.
Representatives from participating
schools will be invited to
the Saint Mary’s College
campus to attend this final
Mass of our fall semester.
This Mass of thanksgiving
will provide the opportunity
for student leaders from
all the participating District
schools to present their
school’s gifts and
prayers for their fellow
Lasallians afflicted by the
hurricane.
Finally, we want to offer
an opportunity for student-to-student
contact between the San Francisco
District and the New Orleans-Santa
Fe District. Participating
schools that have 100% student
participation will be invited
to join Saint Mary’s
College in a community service
project in Louisiana. Student
leaders from our District
will travel to Lasallian
schools and continue in Bridges
to the Bayou on
a very personal and concrete
level.
Saint Mary’s College
and the Office of Education
of the District of San Francisco
invite you to join us in Bridges
to the Bayou.
You can receive more information
by contacting Robert Jordan
in Napa at rjordan@dlsi.org or
Pamela Thomas at Saint Mary’s
College at pthomas@stmarys-ca.edu.
*
* * * * * * *
Other
Hurricane Katrina Relief
Opportunities
Catholic Charities USA:
(800) 919-9338, or www.catholiccharitiesusa.org
American Red Cross: To
donate, go to www.bayarea-redcross.org;
call (415) 427-8000 or (800)
435-7669; or mail a contribution
to 85 Second St., Eighth
Floor, San Francisco, CA
94105.
United Way of the Bay Area
Hurricane Katrina Relief
Fund: Donations can be made
online at www.uwba.org or
by calling (800) 273-1779.
America's Second Harvest:
(800) 344-8070 or www.secondharvest.org
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