COMPASSION AND CARE FOR THOSE IN NEED

Share this article with a friend.

November 5, 2024

For information on admission to Notre Dame Prep, please click here. 

Mission-focused Notre Dame Prep sophomore goes above and beyond with her International Baccalaureate Personal Project to help end the injustices of poverty and bring about sustainable communities in rural Guatemala.

The philosophy and vision of SewHope Inc., an Ohio-based nonprofit, includes the following: "Following the command of Jesus Christ to serve the poor, we commit to care for and love the people we serve as though they are our intimate brothers and sisters."

For Notre Dame Prep sophomore Chloe Smith, those few words fit perfectly with what she and her extended family has been focused on as she was growing up.

"My work with SewHope runs in the family," she said recently. "For example, my grandma has been volunteering with that organization for many years."

"That organization" currently sponsors a school in the Central American country of Guatemala, which serves underprivileged students in kindergarten through fourth grade. It's among a number of initiatives that SewHope partners with to help end the injustices of poverty and bring about sustainable communities in rural Guatemala.

In addition to the school, SewHope also operates a cervical cancer prevention center in the country, which opened years ago when Dr. Anne Ruch of Ottawa Hills, Ohio, began to visit Guatemala on a regular basis.

Those trips laid the groundwork for an involvement in Guatemala by the nonprofit she eventually founded, SewHope, which has evolved far beyond its original goal of preventing cervical cancer. Today, SewHope and the people in that remote area are working toward having access to sustainable food production, clean water, education, health care — and the possibility of a healthy life and a promising future.

Which is where Smith and her grandmother come in.

"My grandma is a retired cytotechnologist who had been traveling yearly to Guatemala to help screen for cervical cancer and she became even more involved with the plight of the people," she said. "My family also has been supporting SewHope by sponsoring a child from the school. We recently paid for his education, uniform, shoes and food for a year."

Smith is so dedicated to the SewHope cause that she decided to make it the central thrust of her International Baccalaureate Personal Project as she transitions out of NDP's IB Middle Years Program at the end of her sophomore year. 

"In this course we are asked to select a skill and a project related to that skill," she said. "Using the attributes of project-planning and communication, I am now fundraising $3,500 to purchase 10,000 meals for families in Guatemala and hosting a food-packing event through SewHope and Kids Coalition Against Hunger (KCAH) on January 25."

To help in that effort, Smith recently raised more than $1,100 from a "casual for a cause" fundraising day at Notre Dame Prep.

"It's all part of working to sponsor that food-packing event on January 25," she said. "I am raising the money and organizing the volunteers. Then KCAH will provide the food for my volunteers and me to pack. Two-thirds of the food will be sent to SewHope’s clinic and school, and 1/3 will be sent to other KCAH locations. So far, I have successfully raised more than $2,300 dollars. I am so grateful for the support from Notre Dame Prep, which led to raising over $1,100."

A member of Christ the Redeemer church, Smith also is playing a key role in the planning of the Jan. 25 food-packing operation at the Lake Orion parish.

"I proposed the idea of hosting the event to my parish outreach coordinator this summer and I've been working with her for the past several months to plan the event. Their support has been amazing."

The event will take place on January 25, 2025. Only 35 cents provides a meal, and Smith says any amount is greatly appreciated. Christ the Redeemer is located at 2700 Waldon Rd., Lake Orion, MI 48360.

More here: https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/MjIwNjY4

 

For information on admission to Notre Dame Prep, please click here.

Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org

About Notre Dame Preparatory School
"At Notre Dame Prep, we inspire our students to become the best versions of themselves. We challenge them through an experience of academic excellence, focused on active, project-based learning. We invite them to explore a world of opportunities beyond the classroom. We guide them as they grow in spirituality within a community strong in its Catholic and Marist identity."

Notre Dame Preparatory School is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School's upper school enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame Prep's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three schools are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDP is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the National Association of Independent Schools. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School, visit the school’s home page at www.ndprep.org.