James Bendele, Ministry Lead and Guardian Angels Moderator at Central Catholic, San Antonio, TX, sends us this update.
A Shout-Out to a Hardworking Group of Young Men Willing to Make a Difference!
We collected over 5,000 canned goods, 500 coats, and 600 toys for our Holiday Drive.
On our last day of semester exams, several of our “angels” loaded up trunks and backseats with toys for the annual Stay Strong Toy Drive. It was awesome to see so many of our guys help out!
We were also recently acknowledged by Archbishop Larry Silva of the Diocese of Honolulu for donating $600 toward assisting the Hawaiian recovery from the recent tragic wildfires. This money came from loose change that was collected during our home football games. Seniors Ryan Ramos and Julian Garrett were the ones responsible for leading the charge and collecting all of the loose change!
In addition, we had two separate service projects at St. Gregory’s Catholic Church.
In the first project, we served hundreds of tamales as the community celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
More recently, we helped take down all of the Christmas decorations around the church. Many of the parish volunteers were elderly, so they really appreciated having our strong young men do the heavy lifting! Seniors Bryan Zertuche, Sam Hernandez, and Ryan Ramos led the charge at our St. Gregory’s projects!
In the meantime, senior Noah Flores and quite a few of his Guardian Angel helpers have been busy beautifying the St. Gregory’s campus with a Rosary walkway as he works toward completing his Eagle Scout project. Watching his vision come to fruition has been nothing short of amazing!
Last but not least, we just concluded our Spring Semester Back to School Drive.
Seniors Sam Hernandez and Rob Rodriguez loaded up and delivered all of the donations for St. Peter-St. Joseph Children’s Home.
The amount of effort and empathy these young men continue to demonstrate is heartwarming and humbling. May God bless them in a very special way, and may God continue to bless our Central Catholic!