Last Friday, Cristo Rey Jesuit paid it forward! At the 3rd Annual "Building the Kingdom" Day, a day of community service, the entire Cristo Rey Jesuit student body, faculty and staff donned blue jeans and special t-shirts and spread across the city to lend helping hands to many non-profit projects in need.

"It was a spectacular show of not only service but solidarity with each other and with our city as we gave back by donating hundreds of hours of work to our fellow Houstonians in need," said Fr. TJ Martinez, SJ, President of Cristo Rey Jesuit. "Special thanks goes to Mrs. Bee Dickson, Director of Development and her assistant, Ms. Nora Kean, for spearheading this incredibly impactful and moving day and taking it to the next level".

Some highlights of the day:

• Habitat for Humanity – built walls
• Houston Food Bank – sorted hundreds of pounds of food
• Kids Meals – prepared 3000 sandwiches
• Our Lady of Mount Carmel Elementary — cleaned out furniture
• St. Dominic Center – cleaned the chapel and grounds
• San Jose Clinic – cleaned and inventoried storage closet
• Society of St. Vincent de Paul – sorted clothes
• Pink Ribbon Project - painted 60 Pink Ribbon Project plates
• Cristo Rey Jesuit–rebuilt baseball dugouts and stands (thanks to Fretz Construction!); weeded field, cataloged books, held 1st garage sale (raised $300 for school activities!)
• Plant it Forward – prepared beds for fall planting
• Southeast Area Ministries – worked in food pantry; resale shop
• Afton Oaks – office work; activities with residents

Great job! This has inspired many of our students inquire about continuing to volunteer at some of these agencies.

All new Cristo Rey Jesuit students attend an intense 4-week training program before school begins to ensure that when they arrive at their jobs, they are ready to work. Each summer, Mr. Dan Walsh, Director of the Corporate Work-Study Program, and his dynamic team pull together a curriculum that teaches the students everything from tying a tie to doing excel spreadsheets. More than 29 business executives volunteered their time to teach most of these very important classes on interpersonal effectiveness and computer training. Many thanks to them for sharing their valuable time and expertise with our students, who are - Houston's Future at Work!