By Jessica Easthope
St. Francis Secondary School students in Laare, Kenya, dance and sing ahead of Mass, 7,000 miles from St. Francis Prep in Fresh Meadows, Queens. The schools call themselves twins, but on the surface, they don’t have much in common.
“It’s incredible what they achieve in that school,” said Pat McLaughlin, principal at St. Francis Prep. “They have students who walk eight miles a day to get to school and then back to get home.”
Every Wednesday during Lent, Prep students wear a specific T-shirt. On the back of the T-shirt is a school bus, and on the front, it says ‘Lent, an Acceptable Time.’
“Our Lenten theme this year is an acceptable time, an acceptable time to reflect, an acceptable time to pray, an acceptable time to sacrifice and this is the way we do it at school,” said McLaughlin.
They were founded in the same order as the Franciscan Brothers in Ireland. Every year, St. Francis Prep’s Lenten service project benefits St. Francis Laare. This year, money raised from the T-shirts will go toward buying the school a bus.
“What the bus is going to allow them to do is go and pick up children from a bigger geographical area,” said Christian Sullivan, Director of Campus Ministry. “Many of the students at St. Francis walk two and three hours to get to school.”
Sullivan is spearheading the project. He said the two schools are bonded by a Franciscan education that can be life-changing whether you live in Kenya or Queens.
“For us as a Franciscan school to be connected globally with other Franciscans across the globe through a T-shirt is really powerful,” Sullivan said.
The T-shirts are $20, a small price for sophomore Maddie Mauceri, but that can make a big difference.
“A lot of my time in prayer and in faith is in reflection of the life I have as compared to our twin school in Laare, Kenya,” Mauceri said. “But also taking it a step further and saying what can we do to make their lives better.”
Carner Mendoza Prep’s Lenten mission has allowed him to look beyond his community.
“I do think that Prep has given me that mindset to think about others that may be right next to you or others that may be on the other side of the world,” Mendoza said.
Prep fully expects to meet its $25,000 goal. After Easter, the money will be sent to St. Francis Laare in Kenya. St. Francis Prep is close to their goal, but they could use your help to reach and exceed it.
If you want to donate to the Lenten Service Project, send it via Venmo to @StFrancisPrep and use ‘Campus Ministry Donation’ as the memo.