Bay View Students Raise Money For Children Of St.Lucia

From St. Mary Academy - Bay View: This past spring, the Mercy Action Club of St. Mary Academy - Bay View along with the entire school community raised over $2,000 and purchased 270 new umbrellas for the children of the La Croix Maingot School in St. Lucia. Lisa Jarvis, the founder of Irie Kids, a non-profit organization helping the underprivileged children in St. Lucia, and who is also a parent of a Bay View alumna, thanked the Academy for their donation saying, “The children at La Croix are ecstatic! Thank you for sending this much-needed gift to the students. The entire community is so grateful to St. Mary Academy - Bay View for helping to keep the children from getting soaked on their way to and from school. This was a real problem that now has been resolved thanks to the caring hearts of your students.”

In the village of Maingot, St. Lucia, many children live below the poverty line and walk miles to and from school each day on dangerous roads in the pouring rain. Each year, many of those children die after being hit by passing cars while walking to school on these rain-soaked roads. In this area of the island, even an umbrella is too expensive for many of the families to afford. St. Mary Academy - Bay View heard of this need through Lisa Jarvis, and through it’s Mercy Action Club, was able to fundraise for this important cause. Students raised money by selling Allie's Donuts, in addition to each grade level collecting money during Spirit Week, as well as through private donations.

St. Mary Academy - Bay View is an independent Catholic School for girls open to all faiths, Preschool through Grade 12, located in East Providence, Rhode Island and is a member institution of the Mercy Education System of the Americas, a sponsored ministry of by the Sisters of Mercy. In existence since 1874, Bay View endeavors to provide a quality education preparing girls and young women for the challenges of the global community. St. Mary Academy - Bay View is a college preparatory school accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

About the Sisters of Mercy: The Sisters of Mercy – an international community of Roman Catholic women – dedicate their lives to God through vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and service. For more than 180 years, motivated by the Gospel of Jesus and inspired by the spirit of their foundress, Catherine McAuley, the Sisters of Mercy have responded to the continually changing needs of the time.

Photo courtesy of St. Mary Academy- Bay View