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Stories Of Kindness
I was so touched by Tommy's story! I was Tommy's parents Real estate agent many years ago. I too have Cystic Fibrosis and have struggled and beaten many challenges! I am a Cardinal O'hara 1979 graduate! GO TOMMY GO GO GO! I will touch base with Tommy's mom to see how I can help. God Bless!
I AM SO HAPPY THAT MY SCHOOL IS STAYING OPEN. ITS REALLY
COOL HOW SO MANY PEOPLE WANT TO HELP. MY AUNTS BOTH GAVE ME 1,000 EACH!!!! AND I
GAVE 100 DOLLARS OF MY OWN MONEY. OUR STORY HAS SHOWN ME THAT HAPPY ENDINGS
REALLY DO HAPPEN AND DREAMS CAN COME TRUE!!! ST. CYRILS IS THE BEST SCHOOL
IN THE WORLD ITS LIKE MY 2ND HOME!!!
Thanks Tommy. You saved our school from closing and we can
graduate in 2008 in the school that we’ve been in since kindergarten. Go Tommy
and go St. Cyril’s!
Keep up all the hard work and we’ll stay open for a long time. Tommy,
if it wasn’t for you, we probably would not have even
gotten this far. Thanks to everyone who was a part of this. I love my school
and am happy it’s staying open.
Go Cyrils and raise more money !!!!!!
April 11, 2006
Dear Neighbors and Friends,
The members of the Save Our
School Committee of Saint Cyril Parish in East Lansdowne, Delaware County, would
like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has helped us realize our
goal to keep our school open for the 2006-2007 school year.
What started out as a simple wish from a little boy afflicted with cystic
fibrosis to keep his school open for two more years so he could graduate with
his classmates turned into a labor of love from so many wonderful people who
embraced our cause.
Parishioners, former parishioners, alumni, neighbors, friends, family and even
complete strangers in the Delaware County community and beyond rose to the
occasion to help us reach our goal of raising $200,000 in less than two months.
It is a testament to our community that not only did we attain our goal, but in
63 days we exceeded it by $60,100!
As the song says, "We’ve Only Just Begun," and our efforts are now
directed to the 2007-2008 school year and beyond! We hope the community will
continue to support our mission. Miracles can happen and wishes do come true. We
at Saint Cyril’s are living proof of that.
Thank you, everyone, for your belief in Saint Cyril School.
Sincerely,
Save Saint Cyril School Committee
Tommy and his family are very special to me. I remember working at the CARES program when Tommy and his sister, Sam, were so very little. I cannot believe how fast they are growing up and how mature they have become.
In 1998 when I was fifteen, I was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm and had three operations to overcome it. I knew I had the help of St. Cyril’s behind me through prayer. I remember lying in the hospital bed in recovery and receiving flowers. Low and behold, they were from Tommy and his family and I will always appreciate their thoughtfulness.
Thanks Tommy!! Thanks St. Cyril’s! I know we can make this work. Keep St. Cyril’s Open!!!!
The Boston University Catholic Center voted to donate 10%
of their alms to Saint Cyrils. They are dedicated to helping keep Catholic
Schools open.
My Dad works with me at Aqua PA. He drives the Company's shuttle bus for employees. Over the last couple of months, he has gotten friendly with a man (Bob) who lives next to the field where employees park their cars. A few weeks ago, my Dad and Bob were talking about their grandkids, etc. In the course of the conversation, Bob asked my Dad where his grandkids go to school. My Dad told him St. Cyril's. Although Bob lives in Bryn Mawr, he is very familiar with East Lansdowne. He is a retired engineer and was involved in building many buildings in the East Lansdowne/Upper Darby area. Bob went on to comment that he was so surprised to hear about St. Alice closing their school. My Dad told him about St. Cyril's situation and how we were trying to save the school and raise $ to keep the school open. Bob then asked my Dad for the name of St. Cyril's pastor. He said that he as going to send a $1,000 check. The very next day, Bob came to visit my Dad with a check for $1,500. Talk about the kindness of strangers!
After the emergency meeting, I decided to ask my boss if he'd like to become a corporate sponsor and donate to our SOS drive. He said that while he couldn't donate company money (we're a small, privately owned company) he'd consider making a personal donation. Within a week he handed me a personal check for $1,000!! He has followed the story in the news, asked me for updates and was at the Flyer's game when Tommy was honored with a Jersey (he couldn't wait to tell me all about it).
My boss is not Catholic, but he and his wife donate to various causes, especially those involving children. He was so happy to help, as the story touched him as it has so many other strangers who read Tommy's letter.
I learned about Tommy’s story when I logged onto St. Cyril’s website to see if I could find a picture of Sr. Barbara to see what she looked like today. Sr. Barbara was my fourth grade teacher in the 11970’s when I attended Annunciation B.V.M. School in Phila., Pa. She left such a memorable impression upon me that I found her sometime last year via the I.H.M. website. We had been trying to get together personally from that point in time. We recently met one another for a mini reunion which was wonderful. In any event, prior to our meeting, I logged onto Saint Cyril's website to find a picture of her. Not only did I find her picture but I learned of Tommy's story as well. Tommy, you are a brave and unselfish child which is a rare combination today. I am helping you and Sr. Barbara to keep your school open by selling raffle tickets for the Dodge Neon. I plan on being at the carnival when the raffle is drawn! Sr. Barbara has made a difference in my life and I cannot think of a better way to thank her than to help out as much as I can. God Bless you, your family, your school & parish, but especially Sr. Barbara.
I fall under many of the affiliation categories of St. Cyril Parish. I am a parish member, parent of 3 sons who all attended 8 years of St. Cyril School, a daughter of 2 wonderful parents who both attended St. Cyril School and were married in St. Cyril Church, and for the past 13 years have worked in the Rectory as the Parish Secretary and now as the Administrative Assistant. I have seen many people come and go through this parish over the years. I could not be prouder of our wonderful parish and the people I have become friends with over the years if I tried.
There is such a true sense of family here that I see first hand every day. My children have made life-long friends from their years of attending school here. However, nothing has come close to the unity and love that has happened here with regard to the efforts of keeping our school open. The generosity of so many good people, both alumni and complete strangers, has truly overwhelmed me. The compassion that has arisen from one letter from 1 very special little boy is very humbling. I pray that God will continue to bless all of His family at St. Cyril of Alexandria Parish.
The day that the children held their dance-a-thon, a lady and a small child came up to me about 10:00 and asked where she could buy a chance on the car. Thinking that she was a parishioner, I told her that we were going to start selling them over the weekend and she could get one in the back of Church. She looked at me kind of funny and said that she didn't belong to St. Cyril's but was watching Good Day Philadelphia and was compelled to drive some distance to see what we were all about. I told her that I would try to locate the tickets which had just been printed. When I came back with her ticket she told me that she called 5 friends and relatives and now needed 6 tickets. She seemed so thrilled to be a part of what we were doing. So, Mrs. Ewing, I hope you or someone in your family wins the Dodge Neon.
My fellow employees at Alliance Bank were very generous in supporting my grandchildren's participation in the dance-a-thon. One of them, Parul, made a pledge and told me that part of it, $9.00, came from her children, Shivani and Ishoan. When she told them about St. Cyril School, they took the money from their piggy banks to contribute for our students. Kids helping kids!
The Student Council at Saint Andrew the Apostle in Drexel Hill, PA developed a goal in September to be "Kids Helping Kids," and along with the Service Learning Committee, have launched a loose change coin drive to benefit St. Cyril's. We have just completed week two of our three-week drive, and have already achieved over twice our school goal of $750! With one week left to go, we are confident of being able to make a tremendous contribution to help keep Catholic education alive and well at St. Cyril's!
Click here for an article from The Delaware County Daily Times about Saint Andrew School's help.
My aunt, out of her kindness, gave $200.00,
and with that I pushed forward to get more money for the dance-a-thon. At the
end my new total was $1,442.00. I love my school and want it to stay open just
as Tommy does. I’m in 6th grade also, and also want to graduate from Cyrils
because it is all I have ever known apart from preschool. Just as Tommy says, it
is also my home away from home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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