Dear Parents and Friends of SVDP School,
A HUGE thank you to all of our families who supported and participated in the 2018 Gala which was a success beyond all expectation. I am so grateful to Kelly McFadden and Stephanie Carreira who said it was time to take us to a new venue to have a different, but familiar, experience. Without phones in hands to compete in the bidding, the community was gathered and enjoyed catching up with one another and sharing stories. While we have some preliminary numbers available, there are still some receipts coming in, so we can excitedly, but cautiously, report the following.
- The paddle raiser project of cafeteria renovation far exceeded its goal by bringing in $137,000. This enables us to re-conceive the project in a new light, perhaps including higher level renovation to the restrooms and/or giving attention to the stairs and lower foyer. The hope and current plan is for the project to be completed this summer.
- The other components of the auction, including fall festival raffle, class challenge, silent auction, parties and live auction raised over $330,000; this is $100,000 over our expected income. And thanks to Kelly and Stephanie’s planning, the expenses were also less than previous years.
Due to the enormous success of the Gala, we are in the position of putting monies raised above the budgeted revenue into a reserve fund for future, and much needed, school projects. Thank you, dear parents and friends for your confidence and your generosity!
This weekend we continue our near-end-of-year celebrations with our second graders receiving First Holy Communion at 10:00AM Mass on Saturday, April 28th. Please come if you can. When I stopped by the second grade classrooms on Friday afternoon, one class was taking turns reading aloud the letters they had received from their older sixth grade buddies. The letters largely congratulated the students and encouraged them in the Christian life. Many of them added a story of their personal experience of First Holy Communion – what it was like for them to receive Jesus for the first time and how they still treasure each time they go to Mass and receive Jesus in Holy Communion. It is a good time for each of us to remember back to our First Holy Communion. What did we understand about Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament at that time? How zealous were we on that day; how ready to do anything Jesus would ask of us? As we mark this special day for our second graders, we can allow it to take us back to that day in our lives when everything revolved around preparing to receive Jesus, from ensuring our hands were clean to consideration of what we wore, and particularly that our hearts would be a place in which Jesus would always remain. Let’s pray for our second graders, and for each one of us, to deepen our faith and to be open to receiving the innumerable graces that God pours out through the Eucharist.
With prayers for your families,
Sister Dominic
