Club Raises $8,000 for Tuition Assistance and Technology Support
As part of its ongoing awareness and advocacy efforts, Iona Prep’s Human Rights Club at the Upper School has raised more than $8,000 over the past few years while working to support the poor and marginalized in our world. Through various fundraisers, including an annual Beyond Borders Bake Sale, the club has been able to support 20 students’ tuition and uniform fees at St. Mary’s Primary School in Bloemfontein, South Africa.
Iona Prep has also underwritten 20 iPads, helped purchase desks and supported the renovation of a classroom, along with some exterior painting. The most recent round of donations was able to provide material for a robotics class and a laptop, as well as food for a lunch program.
The club has been assisting the school since 2017, the year after Human Rights Club co-moderator and English teacher Mrs. Patricia Gray attended the inaugural Edmund Rice Education Beyond Borders conference, the goal of which was for Edmund Rice Schools to go “Beyond the Borders” and connect with one another. Though not in the Edmund Rice network, St. Mary’s is guided by similar principals, which is why Principal Victor Sekakatlela was present and met Mrs. Gray on the first day in New Delhi.
“This is what it means to be part of our Edmund Rice family,” said Mrs. Gray, who recalls discussing the needs of St. Mary’s with Mr. Sekakatlela on a crowded, commuter ferry on a very hot and humid day in Kolkata, India. “This is what our students and their families have done. Iona Prep has had a profound impact on the lives of many St. Mary’s students.”
