Press Release
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Sheila O’Rourke – sheila.orourke@longbeachsaints.org
562-435-4496, Ext. 1229
St. Anthony High School Serves Over Four Hundred in the Long Beach Community with an Early Thanksgiving Dinner and Smile
Long Beach, CA: On Sunday, November 20th over 100+ Saint Anthony High School teachers, students and their parents joined together to serve more than 400 homeless and community families in need at the St. Anthony Parish Hall located at 6th and Alamitos in Long Beach, in an effort to make the lives of many in the Long Beach community begin the Holiday Season with a good meal and a warm smile in their day.
Students and their families showed up early in the morning to donate and cook up an early Thanksgiving meal of turkey and ham; carrots, string beans, sweet potatoes, stuffing and bread; hot coffee and juice; topped off with delicious pumpkin and apple pies. St. Anthony students served the meals to each guest with a smile and words of encouragement.
Jessica Zanatta, a junior and member of the high school’s President Ambassador leadership development program, stated, “It was exciting and fun to be a part of this great outreach. We all came together and made sure our guests knew they were not forgotten and that we care. Everyone went away with a good meal in their stomach and a smile on their face. We all need to remember how truly blessed we are to be alive and part of such a great and caring community.”
The donations from the high school’s students and parents were so generous that there were many leftovers which were distributed after the meal to local homeless shelters and food banks. Mr. Chris McGuiness, Director of Student Life at St. Anthony’s, coordinated the Thanksgiving outreach, saying, “It is amazing how efficiently our students and their families step-up and serve our community at a moment’s notice. This was a real labor of love for all of us at St. Anthony High School”.
St. Anthony High School is a co-ed Catholic high school, founded in 1920 by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart. Open to all, St. Anthony’s provides a quality, affordable Catholic education to families in the Long Beach area. College-bound students from diverse cultural, religious, and economic backgrounds come together to participate in a rigorous program of academic excellence and extra-curricular activities. St. Anthony’s is Long Beach’s ONLY Catholic high school. For more information call: St. Anthony High School at (562).435.4496, or visit the website for more information at: www.LongBeachSaints.org
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