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News
Sister Mary Boyd and “Nuns Build” help Katrina survivors
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| Sister Mary Boyd and Sister Dot Dempsey in New Orleans |
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| Sister Mary Boyd working at a home in New Orleans |
School Sister of St. Francis Mary Boyd and Sister Dot Dempsey, an Adrian Dominican, recently returned from a week in New Orleans where they and others plastered homes, hung drywall, painted and installed windows and doors. The sisters worked with Nuns Build, part of the St. Bernard Project – a nonprofit organization whose mission is to rebuild homes and lives of Hurricane Katrina survivors. While Sisters Dot and Mary were in New Orleans, they learned about the culture, the wetlands, the effects of the oil spill and the current economic situation five years after the hurricane. “The people are so grateful and faith-filled and they don’t give up,” said Sister Mary. Parishioners and school families at St. Patrick Parish and School in St. Charles, Illinois, where Sister Mary teaches, donated $2,615.00 to the St. Bernard Project. Nuns Build Week is held for one week, twice a year. During the inaugural week last October, more than 80 Catholic sisters from communities across the U.S. came together to rebuild ten homes. Women religious from across the country, along with their friends and families, are invited to participate. The next Nuns Build Week is November 15 – 20, 2010. Sister Mary hopes to help again in June of 2011 and bring a few School Sisters and associates with her.