Sophomore Natalie Schorr first heard about the Piarist School at her parish, Holy Spirit at Geist. This moment sparked a connection that led to the formation of the Piarist School Initiative, a Christmas gift drive for students at the school.

Schorr said, “The priest at their school came to my church asking for donations because their whole church is funded by people around the country that give them money. My family and I felt really connected to them, so we reached out and asked if there was anything we could do other than money, because we thought they were probably getting a lot of it.

“They said that they do a Christmas gift drive every year, and it gives gifts to 600 kids around five different counties. And that’s the only gifts that they get.”

The Piarist school is a mission school located in Kentucky.

After hearing about the gift drive, Schorr and her family decided to involve themselves. They asked Cathedral to help.

“Last year, every town in the county system was a part of adopting families, but because we have so many initiatives going on, we decided not to do that as a school, but the Schorrs are still involved,” English teacher Mrs. Sue Welch, who serves as the co-moderator of Schorr’s town, said.

Technology coordinator and head of counties Mrs. Gara Schommer said, “(Chemistry teacher) Mr. (Howard) Fogel said (Schorr) could work with some counties and towns, but it wasn’t going to be an entire county town thing.”

“This year is definitely voluntary, and we’re doing it to support Natalie and her family’s mission as a town,” Welch said.

Welch continued, “Natalie is in our town, Bodkin, and so was Maria, and so their Mom asked if we would just support them in a different way. People put up a giving tree, and during our last county meeting, towns that were interested came down to adopt a child. We’re really only giving three gifts per child: a basic toy and some basic needs. And the Schorrs will mail all that down to the school again. And we’re really doing it to support our town and our town’s person”

Due to the lesser amount of participants, the drive has undergone alterations. “There are fewer kids this year. Last year it was 120, this year it’s 60. But we also are giving different gifts. Last year it was kind of get them an article of clothing or a toy, but this year it’s a shirt, pants, and then a wish list item,” Schorr said.

On Dec. 8, the presents were sent to the Piarist School.

Welch continued to emphasize the voluntary aspect of the drive. She said, “This is not a school-wide initiative, this is not a county initiative. This is because of the relationship Natalie built within our Bodkin town.”