The Futures in Education of the Diocese of Brooklyn conducted a sold-out concert Dec. 19 with the New York Tenors — Michael Amante, Andy Cooney and Daniel Rodriguez — to benefit the children affected by Superstorm Sandy and the Superstorm Sandy Educational Relief Fund.
Proceeds from the “The Spirit of Christmas” concert will go to the families that have been most affected or displaced by the superstorm.
More than $1 million was raised as 2,600 people attended the concert.
This benefit will help these families keep their children in the same school environment, with the same friends they have grown up with, while everything else around them continues to change and is full of uncertainty. Proceeds will also benefit public school students who were displaced by Superstorm Sandy and are now attending Catholic schools in Brooklyn and Queens.
In the Rockaways, a single mother looked for years to find the right school for her daughter, Clara. She finally found that school in St. Rose of Lima, where Clara has flourished. When Sandy hit, her home was destroyed by the flood waters, she and was forced to move in with friends in Manhattan. To ensure the best for Clara, she commutes from Manhattan to the Rockaways to bring her daughter to school every day. Travel expenses are a sacrifice and although she wants to give Clara the best education, this mother says the costs are starting to make it impossible to continue.
Another family from the Rockaways owns a local business, which along with their home, was destroyed by Sandy. The family put together whatever resources they could and helped to feed the volunteers in the Rockaways from what was left of their business, but they must now focus on getting their livelihood back. Their fifth-grade son, Anthony, attends Catholic school and is starting to look at high schools. With no income, the family is unable to repair all they have lost and also pay tuition.
Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, vicar for development of the Diocese of Brooklyn and organizer of the concert, addressed the audience at the end of the concert.
“The children of the Rockaways and southern Brooklyn have experienced traumatic change due to the temporary or permanent loss of their homes and devastation to their neighborhoods. Many parents have the extraordinary expenses of rebuilding and others have lost their jobs in the aftermath. This concert will ensure that these children do not have to face yet more change and disruption if they are unable to attend their school due to a financial need.”
He went on to emphasize, “In a time of so much turbulence in the world, let peace begin with us as we remember the mothers that lost their children in Superstorm Sandy and the mothers that lost their children in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.”
The Three Tenors then led the audience in “Let There be Peace on Earth” and “Silent Night.”
To learn more about the Superstorm Sandy Education Relief Fund or how make a donation, visit www.futuresineducation.org.
For more information on the program, those who attended, concert sponsors and those being assisted, contact either Msgr. Gigantiello or John Heyer at 718-965-7300, ext. 1316 or 347-528-8033.
