SCHOOL LIBRARY AND SCIENCE CENTER
Ss. Peter and Paul School on St. Thomas will showcase its new $50,000 library at are-opening ceremony on Thursday, November 30, at 5:30 p.m. The new venue, largely made possible by contributions from alumni, replaces the original library damaged by Hurricane Marilyn in 1995. The new library has been in use by students since the beginning of the 2006-2007 academic year.
The school's next capital project is the construction of a Science Center. The anticipated cost will be $100,000, of which $66,000 already has been donated. The work is scheduled to begin in January 2007, and is expected to be completed in time for the 2007-2008 academic year.
CARING FOR THE NEEDY AT THANKSGIVING
On Thanksgiving Day, November 23, several parishes in the diocese will have a blessing of bread and other foods at morning Masses and then prepare meals for the needy.
The Missionaries of Charity and volunteers at Holy Cross Church on St. Croix will prepare and distribute as many as 700 meals for the poor. Some will eat at the St. Mary School cafeteria, but most will have home deliveries.
On St. John, Cruz Bay's homeless will be invited to sit with Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church parishioners at a community meal in the Guadalupe Hall beginning at noon.
BICYCLE DONATIONS FOR HIV-INFECTED CHILDREN
Parishioners at St. Ann Church on St. Croix donated ten bicycles for the residents of the Cyril Ross Home in Tunapuna, Trinidad. Built by the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the residence houses over 50 HIV-infected youth from three-month-old children to young adults in their twenties. Seminarian Anthony Abraham, who is from Trinidad and is presently studying at the seminary there, coordinated the effort.
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THE CATHOLIC ISLANDER *NOVEMBER 2006* 3
PASTORAL CARE SYMPOSIUM
Rev. Dr. George Franklin will be among the speakers at a symposium at the Charlotte Kimelman Cancer Institute Auditorium on November 14 and 15 at 9:00 a.m. Presented by the Pastoral Care and Bio Medical Ethics Committee of the Roy Lester Schneider Regional Medical Center, the 15th annual symposium runs November 13 -1 7. This year's program is entitled "Impact of Stress on Daily Lives and Breaking the Cvcle."
FORMER VI PRIEST ASSISTS MILITARY COUPLES
Fr. Alejandro Sanchez, former Administrator of St.
Anne Chapel on St. Thomas, is now full-time chaplain to the Joint Forces Headquarters (JFHQ), located in Old San Juan, serving both the Puerto Rico National Guard and the Puerto Rico Air National Guard.
"For the foreseeable future, a big part of my ministry here will be to coordinate the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) seminars, designed to offer soldiers and their spouses a variety of tools and techniques for better communication," Fr. Sanchez told The Catholic Islander, stressing that PREP is not therapy or a religious retreat. "Implementation of the program has become urgently necessary due to the high rate of divorces among soldiers that have been involved in a recent deployment overseas. We want to address and minimize this problem. The first seminar in Puerto Rico in September was successful, with 48 couples participating and responding positively."
THANKSGIVING RAFFLE
For its annual fundraiser, St. Patrick Church on St.
Croix is once again raffling cash prizes. The first prize is $7,500, second prize is $3,000, third prize is $1,000, and the fourth and fifth prizes are $500. Individual raffles are $5, while a book of twelve raffles is $50. Winners will be announced at the annual Thanksgiving Quadrille at St. Gerard Hall on Friday, November 24.