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In New Business Book, Author Says a Strong Faith Life Is Key To Successful Entrepreneurship

By Currents News

Have you ever thought of starting a business but are worried about how you’d balance work and family life?

One successful entrepreneur, Brian Sullivan, is the author of the book Entrepreneurial Trinity and says the key to seeing it through is adding a strong faith life to the mix.

The Diocese of Brooklyn native joins Currents Ness to speak from experience, noting how his Catholic education shaped him as a businessman and sharing how those values can be applied to various areas of life. 

To purchase a copy of Sullivan’s book, go to entrepreneurialtrinity.com.

St. Kevin Catholic Academy Students Spread Holiday Cheer With Pajama Drive for Children in Need

By Katie Vasquez

During the season of giving, students at St. Kevin Catholic Academy in Flushing, Queens are learning the true spirit of the holidays by doing a good deed for the community and donating new pajamas to children who need them.

This year the New York City school is taking part in the “Pajama Program,” a national nonprofit that provides sleepwear and other items that promote healthy sleep to kids.

“When I donate, I always feel happy inside of my heart, and I know that,” Daniel Fernandez, a 7th grader at the school tells Currents News. “I hope that they will be grateful for the stuff that we donate.”

“I feel like it’s an amazing for the kids who don’t have, are less fortunate than others. And I feel like it makes them feel – it makes you – feel good,” says fellow seventh grader Aydin Romero. 

“All kids should have, a safe home should always be warm at night,” adds classmate Charlotte Rodriguez. 

Studies show that a clean pair of pajamas can promote proper hygiene and quality of sleep, which in turn helps students focus on their studies.  

“Hopefully a lot of those kids would benefit from this program,” Eliana Montalvo, who is part of the St. Kevin Catholic Academy Parent Association, explains.

The association hopes this drive will teach their kids a lesson on helping their fellow man.

 “I think that many of us send our kids to Catholic school not only for the education, but for the morals and really understanding to be empathetic and to always give back. So this was a project that we felt like the whole school could take part of,” she says.

It’s an experience and learning opportunity that could already be sinking in for the dozens of students who have donated already. 

“I think helping kids do better in school is very important. I think school is very important,” notes Rodriguez. 

“There are kids who just wish they had what you had and you wish you had more,” says Romero. “So I feel like you should be grateful for what you have in the beginning.”

“It feels great in my heart to know that I’ve contributed to the less fortunate,” adds Fernandez.  

The school plans to continue to collect pajamas for the needy, as long as the demand is there. 

Catholic News Headlines for Tuesday 12/3/2024

On Giving Tuesday, students at St. Kevin Catholic Academy in Queens are collecting pajamas for the less fortunate, believing that a good night’s sleep can lead to better grades.

Students from Bay Ridge Catholic Academy, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and St. Ephrem’s are gathering for a diocesan middle school retreat, strengthening their faith as they prepare for high school.

Diocese of Brooklyn native and author of “Entrepreneurial Trinity,” Brian Sullivan, shares how balancing business, family and faith is key to success.

From Holy Name of Jesus Church Food Pantry Volunteer to Published Author, an Unwavering Journey

By Katie Vasquez

Every week, you can find Philip Lehpamer at the food pantry at Holy Name of Jesus Church in Windsor Terrace.

Committing one of the corporal acts of mercy.

“It’s part of being a Christian to recognize that people have legitimate differing needs and to try to understand what it is that would really help them,” said Philip Lehpamer, parishioner of Holy Name of Jesus Church.

During the pandemic, the retired actuary, decided to pursue a lifelong goal.

“The mathematician who works for an insurance company?” Lehpamer said. “That’s the easy answer.”

Becoming a published author—a feat he chased hundreds of times with little success.

“I tried them,” Lehpamer said. “Never anything. No total, total rejection.”

Philip’s book, Unwavering Love, is a murder mystery set in 1970s Chicago—where he grew up.

“Parker, the detective, besides being a family man, is also an actuary, which was my profession,” said Lehpamer. “That allows me to write with absolute confidence about that phase of the detective.”

It’s a work of fiction, but it’s based on aspects of his own life—including his faith.

“I wanted to reflect Catholicism,” said Lehpamer. “I wanted to show every detective also had a religious side. In the case of my fictional character, Parker Spooner, his wife, and their children, they are definitely a prayerful family.”

“God’s love is unconditional or unwavering,” Lehpamer added. “But people in marriage reflect unwavering love.”

And now, at almost 83 years old, he hopes his book encourages others to never give up.

“If you have a dream, you have to keep pursuing it,” Lehpamer said. “I would never give up on anything.”

Sister Ita Ford Mural Unveiled at Brooklyn Alma Mater

By Katie Vasquez

A memorial for a former alumnus, Fontbonne Hall Academy in Bay ridge, unveiling this new mural for Sister Ita Ford on Monday.

“We lost Ita so young, so, so full of purpose and courage and, which is a real loss to us,” said Sister Ann Hayden of the Maryknoll Sisters. 

Sister Ita was helping the poor in El Salvador during the bloody civil war when she was murdered along with three other sisters by members of the military on December 2nd, 1980. 

Sister Ann Hayden met Sister Ita when they were both in formation back in 1971 and remembers the woman who would become a martyr. 

“She was a delightful, joyful person. but she also seemed more sophisticated than I would be. and, so I was a little in awe of her,” said Sister Hayden. 

Before she joined the Maryknoll Sisters, Ita Ford was just a girl from Brooklyn attending Visitation Academy and later Fontbonne. Despite her life in service to Christ, not many students at her alma mater knew about her, so Fontbonne set out to change that.

“We thought to ourselves, well, this is the Ita Ford building and the students are still asking, who is Ita Ford?” said Fontbonne Hall Academy principal, Rocco Gentile. 

For the past year, illustrator Aaron Padin created the concept of this graphic photographic mural which includes a timeline of her life and personal quotes. 

“Tons of research and really wanting to figure out a way to tell her authentic story, something that would resonate now and forever with the students that will come through these hallways,” said illustrator Aaron Padin of Padín/Visual Math.

The all-girls school hopes having a role model like Sister Ita will influence the young women walking their halls.

 “She inspires me to be a better person, to be more religious, and, you know, really look forward to helping people and doing what’s right in the world,” said Fontbonne Hall Academy senior, Abegael Mullaney.

“She is the ideal role model to follow in terms of perseverance and commitment and dedication,” said Fontbonne Hall Academy senior, Venetiana Garyfallos. 

 

Catholic News Headlines for Monday 12/2/2024

Fontbonne Hall Academy in Brooklyn, New York, is honoring the life of one of its most courageous graduates with a new mural in her memory.

Someone stole from the donation box at Sacred Hearts – St. Stephen Church in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. We have the developing story tonight.

Maimonides Hospital is chipping in to ensure churches across the Diocese of Brooklyn get what they need to decorate this month and celebrate the birth of Christ.

We remember legendary St. John’s University basketball coach Lou Carnesecca. Carnesecca died on Saturday, Nov. 30, at the age of 99.

Catholic News Headlines for Wednesday 11/27/2024

North Brooklyn Angels are spreading holiday cheer with their 5th annual Thanksgiving meal drive across four locations.

St. Kevin’s Catholic Academy in Flushing hosts its first-ever balloon parade, inspired by the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Pulse of the Parish spotlights Edward LaPlant, who’s celebrating his 30 years of dedicated service to a Greenpoint church.

North Brooklyn Angels Provides Thousands of Thanksgiving Meals to Neighbors

By Jessica Easthope

The chance to sit down, eat a dignified meal and participate in tradition are what the North Brooklyn Angels are giving the people of their community for Thanksgiving this year.

2024 marks the fifth year the organization that battles food insecurity in the borough has held its “Neighbors Giving Thanks” campaign, providing 1,000 frozen turkeys, 2,000 mobile meals and four sit-down Thanksgiving lunches. 

Mirayda Nunez who came with her son Michael to the Bushwick, Brooklyn location tells Currents News she is endlessly grateful for the support: “It’s helping us by providing a little more, because sometimes it’s hard to get groceries and everything. Eggs, milk especially. Even though WIC helps me with him, it’s still too much for us.”

Turkey and all the trimmings were dished out in an assembly line and given to more than 100 people during the November 26 lunch. Michael Salamanca and his wife Hillary have been volunteering with the Angels for four years, and he says his Catholic faith has instilled in him a love of service – 

“You get what you give,” he explains.  “And this is something that’s important to us. And it makes us feel good. And it’s just an opportunity for us to give back a little bit of all the goodness and the positivity that the Lord and Jesus and God has given us in our lives.”

North Brooklyn Angels board member Jonathan McKenna says the migrant crisis has changed their operation in many ways, allowing them to collaborate with community leaders who know the population best.

“We knew that we needed to help people that have come here with almost nothing and through oftentimes harrowing journeys to be here, “ he notes. “So what can we do to ease that burden for them?”

North Brooklyn Angels will be hosting three more community meals like this on Thanksgiving day. All in all, 600 plates of food will be distributed in Bushwick. 

St. Kevin Catholic Academy Hosts First-Ever Thanksgiving Balloon Parade 

By Currents News

Move over Macy’s, there’s another Thanksgiving parade that’s painting the sky this holiday season: St. Kevin Catholic Academy in Flushing, Queens, held its first ever balloon parade on November 27.

The students were inspired after reading the book ‘Balloons Over Broadway,” a true story about the puppeteer who created the first balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. 

Pupils and faculty alike said the celebration was the perfect kickoff for the season of giving. While this is the first time the balloon parade sailed through St. Kevin, the catholic academy wants to keep the tradition going, making it bigger and better in the years to come.