Quick Nav

Students Aid Storm Victims in Campus Wide Response

When Hurricane Ian made landfall as a Category 4 storm on Sept. 28 in southwestern Florida, nearly 1,200 miles away from Somerville-based Immaculata High School and Immaculate Conception School, students in both states looked closely to social media, where they watched the devastation unfold in live updates on the platforms.
Posted on 11/01/2022

When Hurricane Ian made landfall as a Category 4 storm on Sept. 28 in southwestern Florida, nearly 1,200 miles away from Somerville-based Immaculata High School and Immaculate Conception School, students in both states looked closely to social media, where they watched the devastation unfold in live updates on the platforms.

 

While a commonplace threat to Floridians, the hurricane’s ferocity harkened back rarer, yet fresh memories for students of the two Catholic parochial schools in Somerville, who only the year before witnessed the power of a storm’s destruction when the remnants of Hurricane Ida advanced quickly through the area, ripping through their communities and leaving widespread devastation in its wake.

 

“Our area was so deeply impacted when Hurricane Ida came through. People in our own school were deeply impacted, as were some of the organizations our campus ministry program regularly serves,” recalled Colleen Paras ’99, the new director of campus ministry for Immaculata High School. “I think our community knew the gift of giving in that moment because so many people were in need. I felt like the hurricane coverage was so prominent on social media and our students had so much exposure to it – how could we not give them an invitation to respond?”

 

Seeing their request for assistance on social media, Paras reached out to St. Martha Catholic School in Sarasota, Fla., one of 15 schools in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Venice, which serves 10 counties in the southwestern part of the state. She spoke with the school’s principal, Siobhan Young, who shared that of all the schools in their diocese, only about five were left unscathed and those that were left unmarred were serving as temporary storage spaces, holding donations until they could be distributed.

 

A Florida native, Young told Paras she could recall the aftermath of such storms from the time she was a little girl and remembers the toll they can take on the community, noting that once immediate needs are met, the area often falls near recession. 

 

“People cannot go back to work and cannot afford to do things they once did in the aftermath of a devastating storm,” relayed Paras. “We know how important it is for anybody and everybody to offer acts of love, so even though we are not there with them, this is our opportunity to pay back what we were given.”

 

With a firm understanding of the community’s needs and working together with school administrators, faculty members, and students, Paras coordinated a collection of backpacks and other school supplies that can be stored and distributed once the area nears its anticipated recession. 

 

High school students and students involved in Immaculate Conception School’s FACT club - or Faith, Action, Community, Team club - helped to fill and prepare the bags for shipment. Between Immaculata High School and Immaculate Conception School, 15 boxes of backpacks, each with school supplies and a handmade card, were shipped to St. Martha Catholic School, the cost for shipping generously underwritten by Patrick Torpey ’84. 

 

To help provide for immediate needs such as diapers, wipes, toiletries, and cleaning supplies, a monetary collection was taken among faculty and staff members and a student dress down day was held, with the proceeds going directly to aid those affected by Hurricane Ian in the Diocese of Venice. Adding to the already impressive collection of backpacks and school supplies, the monetary donations and gift cards exceeded $1,600.

 

“Our students should feel empowered to live the faith and to invite others to live the faith,” said Paras. “They are a shining example for the younger students and, in return, they have a different kind of ownership. So, moving beyond high school, it's something they know they can do: they can invite other people, they can include other people, they have done it on their own, and now they are empowered to keep serving others.”

 

# # #

 

Immaculata High School, a co-ed college preparatory high school, and Immaculate Conception School, serving students in grades pre-K through 8, both parochial schools in Somerville, are enrolling. For more information, visit: immaculatahighschool.org or icsschool.org.