When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans at the end of August, three Christian Brothers High Schools in the area were overwhelmed. Over 100 days later, two of the schools are "okay," but De La Salle, despite being the first school to re-open in Orleans Parish, welcoming back over 400 students on October 18, is struggling. Only 465 students out of their 900+ enrollment have been able to return to the school, and they have virtually "nothing." When asked what they do still need, Ken Tedesco, Principal of De La Salle responded, "Our kids need Christmas, something to lift their spirits." What he said would do that would be something like gift certificates; i.e., something they could shop with, either for themselves or for someone in their family. They have nothing to spend, so having something to spend is pretty special for them right now.

In an effort to lift the spirits of the students at De La Salle (New Orleans) Saint Patrick took up a special collection that raised over $4,200. The school community held a special “mission collection” on Wednesday, December 7, and the Christian Brothers Community, along with members of the Saint Patrick Board of Trustees were invited to contribute to this effort as well. De La Salle Institute, and Saint Joseph High School, two other Christian Brothers School’s in the Chicagoland area held similar fund raising efforts. Between the three schools, over $7,500 was collected for the students at De La Salle (New Orleans). All of the money collected was used to purchase gift cards for stores such as Target, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart, so students have something to shop with.

On Friday, December 16, Brother Konrad Diebold, President of Saint Patrick, and Brother Michael Quirk, President of De La Salle (Chicago), along with one student from each school, will fly to New Orleans, work in the De La Salle (New Orleans) cafeteria food line, serve the students, and distribute $25 gift cards to as many students as possible.