Kids buy boats for Sri Lankans

Laura Curtin, religious education coordinator at St. Henry's parish in Averill Park, thought a class of seventh-grade faith formation students were exaggerating their earnings from a bake sale.

"We have $700!" the dozen students told her excitedly as they counted money, partway through the sale.

"Boys, calm down," she told them; "there's no way we have $700."

But they did -- and more. In fact, the all-boy religious ed class ended up raising $1,200, which was used to buy fishing boats for tsunami victims in Sri Lanka.

Serving others

The sale and donating the proceeds to a local "Friends of Sri Lanka" fund sponsored by M&T Bank in Albany were the ideas of the boys themselves.

"We had been talking about community service projects in class," and one of the students had heard about the fund, recalled catechist Chris Helwig, who teaches the class along with Mary Lynch.

The students researched the project on the internet and learned that Tuan Razik, a Sri Lankan now living in Cobleskill, had lost many relatives when a tsunami struck his native village in December. The village also lost its entire fishing fleet, their main source of income. With the help of M&T Bank, Mr. Razik determined to raise $30,000 to buy new boats.

Floating a loan

A boat similar to a catamaran, complete with fishing nets, only costs $300 in Sri Lanka.

"What really got to the boys was the fact that if they helped buy these boats, people could help themselves. It would have a long-lasting effect," said Ms. Helwig.

Student Pat O'Byrne affirmed this. "They lost so much -- their family and their lives," he said of the tsunami victims. "That was pretty much their whole lives, those boats."

St. Henry's pastor, Rev. John Provost, suggested that the boys' fundraiser be a bake sale. The students reported that this was not a problem, since most of them had past cooking experience: "It's pretty easy when you have a recipe," Pat noted.

Baking time

In a four-hour baking marathon at Ms. Helwig's house, the class made everything from cakes to caramel apples. Colin Helwig, Ms. Helwig's son and a student in the class, pitched in with chocolate-chip cookies, genets (another type of cookie) and a cake. The boys' parents and other parishioners offered baked goods, as well.

When the students sold their baked goods after Masses one weekend, they were shocked at the outpouring of generosity from parishioners.

"It was really amazing!" said Pat. "We got a lot of extra donations, because people thought it was a really good cause. The church donated some money, too."

"Somebody would take a couple of cookies and give them a $20 bill," Ms. Helwig added. "We have a pretty generous parish."

The boys got so excited, said Ms. Curtin, that they gave periodic reports to Father Provost between Masses -- for instance, "We're only $32 away from another boat!"

Fleet

The sale raised enough to buy four boats for tsunami victims. Along with their check, the students sent a letter to the Friends of Sri Lanka fund explaining how they'd raised the money.

"I feel like we really accomplished something: four hours' work going into $1,200," boasted Colin.

"It was a good lesson for them -- and they got it," Ms. Helwig concluded.

(4/21/05)