Sacred Heart donation to benefit children in Tanzania

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
Jan. 17, 2008

Students at Sacred Heart School in Sioux City gathered pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters to donate to Siouxland Tanzania Educational Medical Ministries (S.T.E.M.M.).

The collection totaled $2,006.32 and was presented to Dr. Steve Meyer, founder and president of S.T.E.M.M., and his wife Dana on Jan. 10. Two of the Meyer children attend Sacred Heart School.

"They are part of a wonderful volunteer organization that works in Tanzania," said Sister Mary Lee Cox, coordinator of the project and ESL teacher at Sacred Heart. "For 10 years S.T.E.M.M. has provided medical, educational, spiritual and humanitarian assistance to the children of Tanzania."

A prayer was offered for Dr. Meyer and his family for their travel back and forth to Tanzania and for their work there. A prayer of thanksgiving was also said for all the students who contributed to the collection.

Dr. Meyer thanked the students for their donation to S.T.E.M.M. He said that he would like to thank them on behalf of the children in Tanzania who would benefit from the money.

"This is a very happy day," said Dr. Meyer. "In all, the 10 years that I have been working on S.T.E.M.M., this is probably one of the proudest moments that I can recall. This is the greatest thing, in some ways, that has happened to S.T.E.M.M. because I know that all of the pennies, quarters, nickels and dimes came from your hearts. That is what S.T.E.M.M. is about."

The money will go toward giving books and pencils to children as well as allow children to go to school. Dr. Meyer stated that there are two million orphan children in Tanzania from AIDS and there is nowhere for them to go. S.T.E.M.M. is currently raising money to build an orphanage.

"We want to raise up the future leaders of Tanzania in a very Christian environment," he said. "We are excited about all the opportunities God has put before us."

Cory Goss, a fifth grader, said it was a good feeling to collect money for "kids who are in need. With all the diseases in Africa, it is good for everyone to have medical surgeries."

"It is good because we are able to help kids that are less fortunate," said Taylor Redmond, also in fifth grade at Sacred Heart. "We were able to give them stuff that we don't really need. We already have enough stuff and they don't have any money at all."

According to Sister Mary Lee, the money was collected from Dec. 12 to Dec. 20 during Advent.

"The children brought coins every day," she said. "We had containers in each classroom. Karen (Rodriguez, another ESL teacher) and I spent time counting the coins. One day I counted 2,700 pennies."

In the fall, Dr. Meyer gave a talk about the S.T.E.M.M. program that started in 1997. The idea to collect money for children in another part of the world stemmed from this presentation.

"Earlier in Advent we had collected food for the local food bank and the Clare Guest House. We had done something locally, but we also wanted to do something internationally," said Sister Mary Lee. "The students responded very well. We are very proud of their efforts."