Currents News Staff
Students in Catholic schools throughout the Diocese of Brooklyn are brushing up their sales pitches getting ready to be paperboys and papergirls again.
“We just made a video elevator pitch,” said the 2021 Third Place Winner Santiago Diniz. “My mom sent it as a text message to everyone we knew.”
For the second year, The Tablet newspaper is holding its “COVID relief fundraiser for Catholic schools.”
Here’s how it works: Students compete to sell the most subscriptions to the diocesan paper. Kids who sell at least three get paid $100 dollars for each subscription they sell. Their schools get $5 bucks for each. This year, high school students get to participate too.
“I’m going to win! No, I’m going to win, I have more friends, but I’m better with the family,” said siblings Christopher and Jenna Ghorra.
Bring on the sibling rivalry because now there are even more incentives to sell the papers. The student who sells the most from today until April 29 gets $3,000 dollars. Noelle Pianoforte, a student at St. Athanasius Catholic Academy, won it last year after selling 48 subscriptions.
“I can’t even explain how I’m feeling,” said Noelle. “I’m just so happy about it.”
A total of $40,000 dollars went to students and their schools last year. Msgr. David Cassato, Vicar for Catholic Schools, told us it was a big relief, especially with all of the unexpected expenses related to COVID.
“Everybody today is struggling financially,” said Msgr. Cassato. “I don’t care who you are, every church is struggling financially, every school is struggling financially, and you know what they say, every little bit helps. A little bit here, a little bit there. It pays tuition, it keeps the school electric bill paid.”
If you don’t know a student selling subscriptions, don’t worry, you can still participate. Just go to TheTablet.Org/COVIDReliefFundraiser.
There you can select the parish school of your choice. You can also extend your subscription if you’re already a big fan of The Tablet.