Hurricane Helpers

It was 5:45am on Saturday morning (Sept. 16) when they departed Jesuit High School, stocked with supplies and ready to go to work, helping the people of the impoverished community of Belle Glade.  

The nine Jesuit students and four chaperones drove four hours to the rural, developing town on the southern edge of Lake Okeechobee and spent the day helping to clean-up and lift spirits in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

The Jesuit service club Agmen Christi has made a few trips to Belle Glade annually, and to its local parish, St. Philip Benizi, in recent years. (In the spring of 2017, Jesuit's annual Mission Drive raised more than $10,000 for St. Philip Benizi). This trip was short notice and inspired by Hurricane Irma. Jesuit, after a week of school closure, reopened on Sept. 15. The next morning the contingent of 13 was on its way to Belle Glade to help the people there with recovery efforts.

The nine Jesuit students were Bennett Lee '20 and Raleigh Bulleit '20 (both pictured on the homepage), Noah Kurtz '18, Sean Hughes '18, Charles Clark '18, John Robbins '18, Camden Minacci '20, Bennett Andersen '20, and Spencer Farfante '20, along with the four chaperones: school president Fr. Richard C. Hermes, S.J., Fr. Randy Gibbens, S.J., science teacher Nathan Stibrich, and Ed Bulleit, P '15, '20.

They returned to Jesuit that evening at about 10:00pm, having made a difference that day in the lives of others less fortunate.

Please click below for a photo slideshow from their service in Belle Glade: