For the last few years, fourth graders from St. Francis de Sales School in Riverside have collected cans and bottles to raise money for needy Cambodians.
The money has been used to purchase 50 water purification systems to give families from the village of Kompong Khleang easy access to clean water, a luxury they didn’t previously have.
“[Before] they had to go down to the river and bring the water back and then boil it for purification,” said Kathy Piguet, St. Francis de Sales School’s interim principal and fourth grade teacher.
Kompong Khleang is a small floating village that depends on the tourism business, which means that COVID-19 has hurt them financially.
Piguet brought the project to St. Francis de Sales School three years ago. It all started when a close friend of hers visited Cambodia. Piguet’s friend saw the need and spoke with her when he returned.
“We talked about this, and I said it would be a great outreach for our fourth graders to recycle, to collect bottles and cans to recycle to earn money to buy these [water purification] systems for this village,” she said.
Piguet’s friend and another donor offered to match whatever funds that the students raised so that their impact could be doubled.
“We’re doing really well … we were able to equip the entire village with water filter systems. So, then we continued our outreach [by asking], what do you need next?” said Piguet.
After buying the water filtration systems, they then paid for some children to attend school in a neighboring village. Their next goal is to fund a school in Kompong Khleang, itself.
If you are interested in donating recyclables or money to this project, contact Kathy Piguet at k.piguet@sbdiocese.org.
Full story at Inland Catholic Byte.
This is excellent. And, encouraging. Thank you for posting this.
Each of us, even children, can do something to put into action our love for God and neighbor.
Praise to Jesus. Thanks to the children, their teacher and her friend.
They should ask wurel he just got 2 million dollars.
Doing God’s work. Teaching the growing children that there are many in the world who need assistance in areas of basic sanitary drinking water. I pray that the children continue this generosity throughout their lives. May God bless them!
Community Service is Leftist PC propaganda. An exercise in control and power. Catholics, so gullible.
There is nothing “leftist” about providing drinking water for those without it. There is something simply Christian about it.
As our Lord Jesus Himself says, “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.” (Mt. 10:42)
See also Matthew 25:31-46.
Maybe not leftist but I think this is racist. Who are these teachers and what are they doing telling their white students that the poor coloreds need their help? And only the whites can save them? How belittling. How offensive. How racist. Like minorities can’t provide for themselves. Like whites are so superior and have supremacy that minorities must wait and be grateful for whatever the whites give them. When it’s the white’s fault in the first place that minorities don’t have what they need. Maybe the minorities need to tell whites to check their privilege.
Regarding my last post, some traditionalists are probably involved in the project mentioned above, in one way or another, and also in some prison ministries, but they just do not announce it to the world most times, and they are more likely to give in direct ways so their money is not misused and given to immoral causes. Some traditionalists recycle more than other Catholics. Many of them have large families and cannot afford to waste anything. “Waste not want not” is nothing new but as old as mankind.
This is the parents’ realm. Doing so-called good with other people’s money or other people’s children is no charity at all.
What do you bet the majority of these “Catholic” students can’t recite the Ten Commandments?