New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Bishop Stang High School, a diocesan, co-educational, college preparatory school located on the Southcoast, announced it hosted a Cardboard Tent City program on Saturday/March 15-Sunday/March16 on the football field of Hugh J. Carney Stadium at Bishop Stang. More than 160 students participated to raise funds for the homeless in Greater New Bedford, and to have an educational experience on the ramifications and impact of homelessness.
“It is an incredibly moving educational experience to have a sea of students overnight on our Bishop Stang athletic fields in their own homemade cardboard shelters,” said Kathy Ruginis, Assistant Principal of Academics at Bishop Stang and FIAT Co-Director. “The students get to hear first-hand from powerful speakers about the plight of homelessness in our area and then live the experience of sleeping outside overnight. It is certainly something they never forget.”
This year’s Cardboard Tent City is the 9th time Bishop Stang has hosted this experience, rain, snow or shine. Students arrive on Saturday afternoon with their homemade cardboard tents and leave on Sunday. Students each raise a minimum of $25 to participate with funds being donated to Catholic Social Services, local food pantries and local shelters. Students eat a “spartan” dinner while sharing the total experience with one another.
“I am humbled by the speakers who openly share their journey with our students on the struggles that are happening right in our own backyard,” said Jackie McCarthy, department chairperson for World Languages and Co-Chair of Cardboard Tent City. “This is another example of how students at Bishop Stang truly fulfill this year’s theme: ‘Be Humble, Be Exalted’. I’m proud that each year the event continues to grow as it allows us to share the collective experience as a community as well as increase the money we can give back to those in the most need.”
