MAGIS Helping Hands
Over two hundred students, parents and alumni participated in a meal packing event on March 30 at Belen Jesuit at the Roberto C. Goizueta Athletic Center. Thirty-eight thousand meals for the poorest of the poor in Burkina Faso West Africa were packed. The event was sponsored by the Belen Alumni Association, Knights of Columbus and benefits Catholic Relief Services.
“This is our 5th year hosting this event and over 150,000 meals have been packed since we started,” said Crescencio J. Ruiz '76, Magis Chair and Coordinator for Belen. “The continued commitment of our Belen Alumni, both in time and treasure, has been the most important factor in reaching the milestone meal count in such a short period of time. Overall, it has been a wonderful partnership with the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Relief Services Professional Advisors Board, who year after year support this great event both with their time and resources.”
Students from Belen, Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, St. Brendan High School and several parochial schools participated in this event.
"We are delighted that so many people representing various Catholic schools and organizations come together for this event," said Ana Gloria Rivas-Vázquez, development director for Catholic Relief Services. "Especially during this Lenten season, it is important for us to remember how blessed we are and to do our part to help our most vulnerable sisters and brothers in other parts of the world. That is what our faith calls us to do."
“The Magis means to strive to do more in sharing the Gospel values, learning and serving,” said Belen Jesuit Principal Jose E. Roca ‘84. “This is one of the core values we teach at Belen and this event exemplifies that. It’s wonderful to see students come together and work side by side with alumni, teachers, parents and students from other schools all for the greater glory of God.”
Catholic Relief Services | Helping Hands is a Catholic volunteer and formation event that allows participants to serve their brothers and sisters overseas in a tangible way. Together, volunteers package meals to send to people who suffer from chronic hunger as a result of cyclical drought and flooding in the African nation of Burkina Faso. In addition, CRS Helping Hands funds longer term, income-generating projects that allow our brothers and sisters to build a future free from hunger. For more information, visit their website at https://helpinghands.crs.org.
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BELEN JESUIT PREPARATORY SCHOOL
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: webmaster@belenjesuit.org
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: webmaster@belenjesuit.org
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School was founded in 1854 in Havana, Cuba by Queen Isabel II of Spain. The task of educating students was assigned to the priests and brothers of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), whose teaching tradition is synonymous with academic excellence and spiritual discipline. In 1961, the new political regime of Cuba confiscated the School property and expelled the Jesuit faculty. The School was re-established in Miami the same year, and over the next decade, continued to grow. Today, Belen Jesuit sits on a 30-acre site in western Dade County, only minutes away from downtown Miami.