IWA students donate Bibles to Tampa Catholic High School

Incarnate Word Academy High School Level students collected alms this past Lenten season to contribute to IWA’s Solidarity Fund which is used for various mission and service projects throughout the school year.
 
Using funds from the Solidarity Fund, the students recently donated nearly 100 Bibles to freshman at Cristo Rey Tampa High School, a Catholic, college-preparatory school and corporate work study program in Florida.
 
The donation request for the Bibles came from former IWA President and CEO Charles D. Imbergamo who is now the President and CEO at Cristro Rey Tampa High School, which is in its inaugural school year.
 
“Our students felt that this would be a wonderful experience of solidarity as this would enable the Cristo Rey Tampa High School students to have a Bible to use in and out of the classroom just as our students do,” IWA Religious Studies Teacher Sr. Judith Marie Saenz said.
 
Cristo Rey Tampa High School provides an affordable college preparatory education for youth from low income families who are looking for quality educational options. Students are employed at one of 25 corporate businesses in their community to help pay for their schooling. The Bibles will be used by the school’s first student class for their religious studies classes.
 
“I was excited when I found out that we were going to get Bibles,” Kelis’a Brown, a freshman at Cristo Rey Tampa High School, said. “I thought everything would be technology-based and we wouldn’t have any physical Bibles. So when we got them and we were told that we got to keep them, I was happy. I’ve never really had something like this. So for someone to care this much for me, really meant a lot.”
 
The Cristo Rey Network, which has a total of 32 schools across the U.S., educates over 10,000 students who live in urban communities with limited educational options.
 
“Like IWA, the Cristo Rey model recognizes the fundamental importance of integrating Gospel values into the curriculum. It is especially meaningful for us to be able to facilitate this life-giving dynamic for them by literally placing the Scriptures in their hands so that the Word restores hope and contributes to what the Church calls the new evangelization,” IWA Director of Mission and Ministry Matt Lohmeier said.