Students Dress Down to Warm Up
PROVIDENCE - The students and faculty of St. Matthew School in Cranston joined Bishop Thomas J. Tobin assisting the less fortunate citizens of Rhode Island in paying their fuel bills this winter. Having read about the bishop¹s outreach to one local family, a teacher in the school suggested that the students have a ‘Dress Down to Warm Up’ day on a recent Friday to help the ‘Turn the Heat Up’ campaign. Free will offerings by students and teachers were donated to the Interfaith Community Dire Emergency Fund, which assists poor and marginalized families pay home heating bills, a charity to which the school has given before. The goal was to break last year’s record donation of $300. This time, St.
Matthew Principal Elaine Dykstra presented Richard Andrade, Interfaith¹s coordinator, with a check for $633.
“This amount is fantastic and somewhat not very surprising,” Andrade said. “I have seen first hand how well these students understand the idea of giving to those in need. They get it and get it good!”
On Sunday Nov. 20, Father Anthony Mancini, conductor of the Gregorian Concert Choir and Orchestra performed a benefit concert at the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul on behalf of the fund. The concert, dedicated to the memory of the late Dr. C. Alexander Peloquin, Cathedral music director for more than 41 years, was attended by more than 400 people. The total raised will be published in next week’s Visitor.
This article originally published in The Providence Visitor.