Dear Parishioners,
   The response to the Lenten Malawi Fund has been overwhelming. We have raised nearly $15,000 so far! Thank you to everyone who has donated to this project. It really will make a difference to many girls. 
   The original goal that we set at the beginning of Lent was to help 10 students with tuition and room and board for one year to attend the Catholic girl’s high school in Malawi. When Hannah first sent me the information about tuition cost, based on what I understood, I had indicated that tuition was around $300 per student per year. However, I have discovered that I made a mistake in calculating the costs for the year and it costs $300 for each “term”. There are three terms in the Malawi school year, so tuition for the entire year is about $800. I am sorry, this was my mistake. 
  But seeing how our fundraising has far exceeded our expectations, parishioners have also asked how to help students attend for multiple years, or how to help the school in other ways. I asked Hannah and she said she would like to take the students on field trips but cannot because there is no bus. The sisters who run the school would like to get a school bus and say it would cost about $50,000. They have already begun to raise funds for this and expect it to take two years. 
    We have decided to put the first $10,000 of our Malawi Fundraiser toward tuition assistance as originally planned, and all remaining funds over $10,000 will go toward the school bus fundraising to be able to support them on that important project as well. 
   As to how the funds will be handled: the money is collected and accounted for at St. Mary’s and after Easter we will wire the funds directly to the girl’s school in Malawi, which is owned and operated by an order of Catholic sisters. I visited this school twice when I was in Malawi and can attest to the good work and great education these sisters provide their students.
   The silent auction for the crosses that I made to support the Lenten Malawi Fund will end this weekend after Sunday masses, so please make sure to get your last-minute bids in after mass. Thank you again for everyone’s support in this project. It has been wonderful to see everyone come together to help such an amazing, faithful community.