St. Aloysius to Present First-Ever Legacy Tributes

Joseph Browne and Donna Hennessey

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by St. Aloysius Parish School.

Saint Aloysius Parish School will hold its first-ever Legacy Tribute and Auction on Saturday, April 2.

During this event, which will serve as the school’s major fundraiser, two long-time Pottstown residents will be inducted into the Legacy Tribute Hall of Fame. 

Mrs. Donna Hennessey, beloved St. Al’s English teacher, is this year’s Legacy of Inspiration honoree; Mr. Joseph Browne, member of the Saint Aloysius Class of 1946 and parishioner, is this year’s Legacy of Philanthropy honoree.

The Legacy of Inspiration: Mrs. Donna Hennessey

This honor is bestowed upon an individual who has done extraordinary things for others in the Saint Aloysius community and beyond. Though his/her excellence, encouragement, and mentorship, this person uses his or her God-given talents to inspire others to be a living witness of the Gospel message.

Born and raised in the Pottstown area, Donna Hennessey (Carlini) attended Saint Gabriel’s in Stowe. She arrived at Saint Aloysius Parish School in 1972 after graduating from Chestnut Hill College. For the past 44 years, she has devoted her career to instilling the love of the English language, literature, and the Catholic faith in all of her students at Saint Aloysius.

The Hennessey family has a more than 50-year history with Saint Aloysius Parish School and Church. Donna’s husband, Kevin, is a 1964 graduate of Saint Aloysius; her daughter, Dori, is a 1999 alumna of the School, and her son, Jonathan, is a member of the class of 1995. Donna and Kevin have dedicated much of their time volunteering with the Church. Donna also has been involved with the Junior Service League.

A lifelong educator, Donna’s interest in her students goes beyond the classroom. Former colleague Marilyn Lavelle remarked that Donna has always “felt strongly that all learning did not take place just in the classroom.” She noted, “Donna makes her students want to be better students, better competitors, and better people. Her complete faith in their abilities gives them strength and confidence. This unwavering faith is evident in all her classes. Praise from her former students shows this clearly.”

“Donna is wonderful teacher and mentor.” Notes Mrs. Lavelle, “While working with Donna, I saw her always use fairness, honesty, and genuine love while dealing with families.”

Current Saint Aloysius Parish School second grade teacher, Mrs. Maggie Zale, has worked with Donna for many years. She said, “No matter how education changes, Donna has the ability to understand what is most important and what every student needs to succeed."

The Legacy of Philanthropy: Mr. Joseph Browne

This honor is bestowed upon an individual who embodies true Christ-like generosity. This person is generous of heart and uses his/her time, talent, and treasure to support and further the mission of Saint Aloysius Parish School.

Joseph Browne is a life-long resident of Pottstown who has dedicated his life to the service of others. A 1946 graduate of Saint Aloysius Parish School, Joe spent his career as an engineer at General Electric.

The oldest of five children, Joe served as a father figure for his two sisters and two brothers after their father passed away. His brother, Paul, Saint Aloysius Parish School Class of 1952, recalls how Joe “provided guidance, moral support, and finances (if necessary) for us all to continue on.”

“We all appreciate the disciplined religious and academic education we received, which continues to serve us well as we progress through life,” said Paul of his faith-based Catholic education.

Commenting on Joe’s selflessness, Paul said, “Joe has always been supportive of his family and his Catholic faith, both emotionally and financially. All of us siblings, and our children, have been the recipients many times and in many ways, of Joe’s generosity.”

That generosity is also evident in his service work. Joe has been a very generous benefactor to his alma mater, giving both his time, talent, and treasure to Saint Aloysius Parish School and Church. In 2011, Joe was named “Citizen of the Year” by Pottstown Elks Lodge 814. He was recognized for his volunteer work with Saint Aloysius Parish Church, Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery County, and the Tri-County Performing Arts Center (now Steel River Playhouse).

St. Al's Donations Already Piling Up

Just part of the food items already collected for the Pottstown Cluster at the St. Aloysius campus

POTTSTOWN  -- The folks over at St. Aloysius have been busy people.

As I wrote about here in Sunday, after a story ran in the print edition of The Mercury about the involvement of St. Aloysius School and the church's prep program for kids preparing for their first Holy Communion or Confirmation, donations for their food drive are already pouring in.

More of the St. Al's haul

An e-mail Sunday from Cathy Wieand, who is coordinating the efforts at the parochial school, indicated that already, 133 items have been collected.

 

"Our count as of Friday morning was 2 laundry detergents and 133 other items for the Cluster. That was after Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, not a bad start," she wrote.

"And as it happens at the end of the day we found two more laundry detergents at our door -- we will count them tomorrow afternoon and I will take a drop to the cluster on Tuesday." 

Added, Wieand, "we have put up a sign and have a box in the Gathering Center, with a sign on the door if anyone is dropping off."

In case you're not familiar with it, the "gathering center" is the spiffy new building between the church and the school on North Hanover Street just north of Beech Street.

The St. Aloysius Gathering Center is next to the church.

The Mercury's Fill the Media Lab food drive is really taking off.

On Friday, our Tale of Two Dogs blogger reported that one person made a massive donation at the Boneyard Joe's drop-off she set up.

In included 89 "human items," and 90 "pet food items" and five bottles of laundry detergent.

"The owner of Boneyard Joe's said Ms. Kline donated all these items herself and would not accept a free lunch from them for her generosity.

It's stories like that which serve as a reminder of how many quietly incredible people there are out there.

Which reminds me to remind you that there are lots of places where you can drop off food donations and lots of places that are benefiting.

Here is a map of the places which have volunteered to be our drop-off locations.

St. Al's Joins the Food Drive

Blogger's Note: This post first ran as an article in The Mercury on March 7.

POTTSTOWN  -- When Mike Kilgore gathered the students of his St. Aloysius “prep program” together recently, he had a few seemingly simple questions for them before they began their lessons for their first Holy Communion or Confirmation.

“How many of you had something to eat before you came here?” he asked them, and was rewarded with a show of hands.

“How many of you are full? How many of you had clean clothes?” he asked.

St. Aloysius Church in Pottstown

“I wanted to get them thinking about things they probably take for granted, and then I told them that there are people for whom the answer to those questions is ‘no,’” Kilgore recalled. “I told them there could be people on their street who need that kind of help.”

All of which, Kilgore said, was to get the class in the right frame of mind to participate in our Fill the Media Lab food drive, being conducted during Lent.

“I’ve always thought that rather than do without on Lent, it’s better to do something positive, so this is a great time to do something like this” Kilgore said.

“I talked the entire class and they’re really excited,” Kilgore said. “We’re going to use the church as the drop off.”

St. Aloysius School

It’s not just Kilgore’s students who will be gathering food.

All students at St. Aloysius School will participate as well, confirmed Cathy Wieand, acting marketing director for the school.

Starting with an announcement Wednesday morning, the school’s Student Council will begin a food drive that will benefit the Cluster Outreach Center, Wieand said.

“It’s going to be the whole school, from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade,” she said.

It will be announced to the school’s families through the weekly mailing and to the school over the morning announcements.

Help us fill this space with food for the hungry

In fact, Wieand said, plans are for the students to prepare “some jingles to sing over the PA system to spur the classes on.”

The food drive is gathering steam, first with the bloggers at The Mercury’s Town Square blogging site, many of whom have taken up the call for filling our Community Media Lab with food for the need, identifying drop-off sites and food pantries that are running short of supplies during a time of greater demand and fewer donations.

Here is a map of places you can drop off food donations:



And now the children of St. Aloysius are stepping up to help. Donations can be made at the Gathering Center on the St. Aloysius campus on North Hanover St.

“Signs are going up in homerooms and letters and flyers will go home and we will remind the children each morning,” Wieand said.

In addition to providing food for Pottstown’s needy, the drive will also provide an important lesson, Wieand said.

“Community means taking care of each other and that’s what we teach our kids,” she said, “that when there is a need in the community, they need to step up and lend a hand.”