Divine Mercy students raise $7,000 in 5 days
Money to aid Indian community hit by tsunami

By Sam Lucero,Catholic Herald Staff

SOUTH MILWAUKEE — Divine Mercy School lived up to its name recently, collecting $7,000 in just five days for survivors of the tsunami disaster in southern India.

The fund-raiser was more than a donation to nameless people in an unknown part of the world. Thanks to a pen pal relationship between Divine Mercy fourth grade teacher Janice Walder and Fr. Rayar Savarinathan, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Thiruthuraipoondi, India, donors were able to put a face on those who suffered in the Dec. 26 disaster.

According to Walder, the Catholic priest was speechless when he learned that the school raised $7,000. “How can people so far away, and who don’t know me and my people (be) so compassionate and so generous,” Fr. Savarinathan told Walder.

The response was only natural for a Catholic school that teaches respect and compassion along with reading and writing.

“I am in awe of the parents here at (Divine Mercy School), that they can open their hearts and their wallets in this way,” said Walder.

It’s not the first time the school has raised money for the Indian Catholic community. Last November, the school sent $800 to Fr. Savarinathan to help him start a children’s library.

Because of Walder’s connection to Fr. Savarinathan, the school and parish community have been able to exercise their charitable muscles. According to Walder, her parents, Phyllis and the late Norbert Winski, befriended another Indian priest, Fr. Savarimuthu, in the 1970s while he was studying at Marquette University. “He was stationed at Queen of Peace Parish in Milwaukee and we kept in touch” after he returned to India, she said.

Fr. Savarimuthu died about two years ago, but not before making an indelible impact on the Christian community of Thiruthuraipoondi, said Walder. He made plans to build a parish community center, which was recently completed by his successor, Fr. Savarinathan, and named in the late priest’s honor.

The community center was completed just before the Dec. 26 tsunami rocked south Asia, turning the new building, located about 20 miles from the east coast of southern India, into a shelter for tsunami survivors.

“This brand new building is now housing tsunami refugees,” said Walder. She said the number of people sheltered at the parish center ranges from 100 to 200. “It’s kind of in flux. They want to get them back into a stable community.”

While Fr. Savarinathan and his people are focused on relief for tsunami victims, the parish is also grieving the loss of about 1,000 parishioners, said Walder.

Walder said she e-mailed a brief note to Fr. Savarinathan one day after the tsunami hit the Indian coast: “Are you still here?”

About two days later he responded to her e-mail, but was busy helping coordinate relief efforts.

When she returned to school after Christmas break, Walder discussed the disaster with teachers at Divine Mercy and they decided to begin an all-school collection. It wasn’t just a collection, but a contest. Boys were pitted against the girls to see who could raise the most money. To entice the students, the teachers decided to offer a special perk: if the boys won, they could throw a pie at Walder; if the girls won, they could throw a pie at social studies teacher Craig Luther.

While the enticement was an incentive, it was the relationship with Fr. Savarinathan and Our Lady of Lourdes Parish that motivated parish and school families to give to the collection. “We were getting $50, $200 checks,” said Walder.

The school collected $5,400: $2,162 from the boys and $3,238 from the girls. In addition, the parish’s human concerns committee donated $400 and St. Alphonsus School in Greendale donated the $1,100 it collected to the cause.

Due to the outstanding response, the teachers allowed one boy and girl from each class to throw a pie at Walder and Luther. On Jan. 31, the two teachers — dressed in outfits appropriate for receiving pies to the face and body — gathered in the school cafeteria. Cheered on by classmates, teachers and parents, the pie throwers enjoyed covering the teachers with whipped cream.

Before the event, Walder said the pies used in the prank were simply whipped cream in pie plates. Baker’s Square donated fruit pies to the school, which were consumed by the students afterward.

On Jan. 27, Walder received an e-mail from Fr. Savarinathan, thanking Divine Mercy School, St. Alphonsus School and the parish’s human concerns committee for their donation.

According to Walder, the school requested the money be used to assist children. Fr. Savarinathan noted that part of the funds are going toward providing counseling to children who lost parents and other family members. “Steps are being carried out to make the affected children to pursue their education without any difficulty by providing study materials and notebooks and school dress uniforms,” wrote Fr. Savarinathan.

While the disaster and loss of life in India is difficult, Walder noted it offered lessons to children at her school. “When we talk about the Beatitudes and corporal works of mercy, it’s hard getting the children to understand that not everybody has what they have,” she said.

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