Mission Drive 2015

Mission Drive 2015 officially launched Tuesday morning (March 24) at Jesuit High School, as Director of Community Service Michael Miller ’09 spoke about the inspiration for this year’s Drive during Convocation in St. Anthony’s Chapel.

Jesuit students will spend the next month donating and collecting money to go toward assisting the missionary work at Our Lady’s Youth Center, which operates The Lord’s Ranch in the El Paso, Texas area – where Texas and New Mexico are separated by just a strand of the Rio Grande from crime and poverty ridden Juarez, Mexico.

Miller explained the incredible work being done at The Lord’s Ranch and the history behind it. Founded by 1945 Jesuit High School graduate Fr. Rick Thomas, S.J. (a large image of Thomas is alongside Miller in the homepage photo), The Lord’s Ranch is serving the poor and destitute on both sides of the border in the very dangerous locale.

To provide an alternative to the overwhelming prevalence of gangs, The Lord’s Ranch recently started a youth soccer team. It has helped many kids already, and Miller read a heartfelt testimonial about a 14-year-old named Alonso who has benefited tremendously from joining the soccer team. The Lord’s Ranch soccer program is in need of funding to help keep it going, and to help it provide an outlet for as many at-risk youths as possible.

The Mission Drive, which dates back to the 1930s at Jesuit, culminates this year on April 24 with Mission Drive Day, when the entire Jesuit student body will be involved in various fundraising activities across campus. This year’s Mission Drive theme is “To give and not to count the cost” from the Prayer for Generosity by St. Ignatius. Miller has established a goal of raising $10,000 for Mission Drive 2015.

Fr. Thomas died in 2006 and has begun the process of canonization. Click here to learn about his extraordinary legacy.