Yonkers Police Commissioner Christopher Sapienza and Assistant Chief of Police Ralph Carozza joined Maria Regina High School students Cecelia Sclafani, left and Sophie Mosko, right, load the truck
Maria Regina High School students Kayla Akram, Sarah Rrasi, Gabriella Ferrara and Hailey Uriarte help load the truck with 400 turkeys and 200 bags of non-perishable food items
For three decades, Maria Regina High School has proven that young women leading with compassion can transform community. Today, students marked the 30th anniversary of their Thanksgiving Food Drive by delivering 400 frozen turkeys and 2,000 non-perishable items to Saint Peter’s-Saint Denis Food Pantry in Yonkers, continuing a legacy of service that has fed nearly 100,000 individuals since 1995.
What began 30 years ago as a school-wide chance to help others has grown into one of the region’s most impactful holiday food drives, embodying Maria Regina’s core mission: empowering young women to become compassionate leaders who serve others.
“Since 1995 when our Thanksgiving Food Drive started, Maria Regina has fulfilled the meaning of Thanksgiving, to love, care and share, for about 20,000 families, nearly 100,000 individuals, including the elderly, unemployed, underemployed and sick served by Saint Peter’s-Saint Denis Food Pantry,” said Principal Maria Carozza-McCaffrey (Class of ’99), adding: “At a time when the region’s food insecurity crisis has been very challenging for food pantries, we are very proud of the students, along with the school’s extended family, who answered the urgent call to help feed their neighbors with one of largest donations to date.”
This year’s donation will provide complete Thanksgiving meals for 400 families facing food insecurity, a testament to the students’ leadership in organizing the drive and mobilizing donors throughout the community. Joining students and staff at Maria Regina to help load the truck full of donations were Yonkers Police Commissioner Christopher Sapienza and Assistant Chief of Police Ralph Carozza.
Students will return with PrinYonkers Police Commissioner Christopher Sapienza and Assistant Chief of Police Ralph Carozza.cipal Carozza-McCaffrey and Associate Director of Catholic Mission and Outreach, Patrice McDermott, to personally distribute holiday meals to Yonkers families served by the St. Peter-St. Denis’s food pantry on Tuesday, November 25.
30th Annual Toy Drive Launches
Marking another 30-year milestone, Maria Regina students are preparing to simultaneously launch their 30th Annual Toy Drive for Mercy Center, the South Bronx nonprofit dedicated to empowering women and families to overcome economic poverty. The students have set an ambitious goal: collecting toys and gifts for 200 families served by the organization.
Maria Regina students understand the importance of giving and service, and this commitment is evident not only in these milestone holiday drives but in the many other charitable initiatives they undertake throughout the year. For three decades, these twin holiday drives have been more than charitable acts; they are living examples of how Maria Regina students lead by example, transforming the school’s values into action that ripples throughout the region.
In the weeks ahead, students will undertake additional charitable initiatives to bring Christmas cheer to those in need, continuing the mission established by the Sisters of the Resurrection when they founded Maria Regina 68 years ago. For more information, visit www.MariaRegina.org.
Maria Regina High School Mission
Maria Regina High School is a Catholic school where young women are encouraged to achieve academic excellence, empowered to be compassionate, empowered to be compassionate leaders, and enriched with the Spirit to live a life of Charity, Truth, and service to others. For 68 years, the school has been dedicated to empowering students to become compassionate leaders who serve their communities with intelligence, integrity, and faith—a mission exemplified by three decades of transformative service. To learn more, visit www.mariaregina.org
