On Dec. 5, 690 students from St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs walked 26 miles in the annual March for Hunger through Los Angeles.
Bishop Joseph Sartoris presided at a 6:30 a.m. Mass in the St. Paul gymnasium to begin the day for participants, friends and family. Then they headed to Salazar Park in East Los Angeles to begin the course that wound through the city, ending at Santa Monica Beach.
"We get to experience what the homeless and the very poor go through," said senior Arica Hernandez. "Every day they have to walk and they're exposed to the elements like we were that day, but we get to do it with friends. We do this only one day a year, but it's still a reality check for us."
"My dad likes that we see the streets in the poor areas and the better off areas, that we see all classes of society," said senior Gabriel Samaniego. "This walk shows us how much we have and maybe what we want to have in the future."
Over the past 31 years, St. Paul High School students have raised over $800,000 for the Los Angeles Catholic Worker's Hospitality Kitchen on skid row.
"We're not just talking, we're walking," said Samaniego. "March for Hunger has two specific parts --- the spirituality of the experience and the fun. You know you are doing something good for the community and you are there with your friends having fun." |