Students of Gahanna St. Matthew School recently conducted three events that raised more than $4,000 for people recovering from Hurricane Ian in southwest Florida.
About $3,000 came from a dress-down day in which students were permitted to wear clothing other than the standard school uniform in return for a contribution. About $200 was raised from a sale of student crafts such as key chains and potholders, and about $800 came from a bake sale. Principal John Rathburn said that was the largest amount ever raised by a bake sale at the school.
He said those events are among several fundraising activities conducted at the school as a result of student suggestions in his 3 ½ years as its principal.
“I’m privileged to be working with students and parents of an incredibly giving nature. I have an open-door policy encouraging students to talk to me about anything that’s on their minds. All the fundraisers we’ve had since I became principal are a result of student suggestions,” he said.
“One of our fourth-grade students has a great-grandmother who is a member of St. Columbkille Catholic Church in Fort Myers, Florida, which had part of its roof torn off by the hurricane, letting water in and causing a lot of damage to the sanctuary, chapel and entrance area of the church,” Rathburn said. “This student asked us to help, and we came up with the idea of a dress-down day.
“About a half-dozen fifth-grade girls had planned a bake sale for Nationwide Children’s Hospital and decided to have it for the benefit of the hurricane victims instead. Two sixth-graders who do crafts said they wanted to help as well.
“One of the great things about our school is that students of all ages, not just the older ones, feel free to come up with these ideas to help people, which go to a committee of parents and school staff for consideration.”
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the school collected 380 new toys, gift cards, new clothes and a carload of gently used items for the Home for Families, located in Columbus’ Franklinton neighborhood near the former Holy Family School and across the street from Holy Family Church.
“The home is for homeless families and families who are in transition, such as those who have recently arrived here and are looking for affordable housing,” said assistant principal Regann Nowalk .
“The idea for helping them came from one of our parents who came here from South America and feels so incredibly blessed by being able to be in the United States and prosper that she wants to help others.”
Rathburn, a St. Matthew parishioner for 22 years, has been principal at the parish school, which has about 580 students in preschool through eighth grade, since just before the COVID pandemic closed all Ohio schools in spring 2020.
He previously had been a principal for 32 years at Galloway Westland, Gahanna Lincoln and Columbus Hamilton Township high schools and Johnstown Northridge Middle School. “My sons graduated from St. Matthew and Columbus Bishop Hartley High schools, and it always was a dream of mine to be principal here,” he said.
Nowalk is a St. Matthew School graduate and is in her 18th year on the school staff, but her first as assistant principal. She previously taught physical education and sixth- and seventh-grade math and science.
Rathburn said the school’s first student-initiated fundraiser after he become principal provided toys and blankets for Ronald McDonald House near Nationwide Children’s Hospital. A food drive in May for the GRIN (Gahanna Residents in Need) organization collected 500 to 600 cans, which Rathburn delivered after the school year ended.
The school’s outreach to the community also includes making sandwiches and gathering donations for the parish charitable works committee; making sandwiches and collecting items for the Manna in the Morning program of Star House of Columbus, which serves homeless young people; singing Christmas carols at and donating pajama pants and socks for the Sage Park Assisted Living and Memory Care Center, and writing letters to parishioners who are homebound or are in care facilities.
Students in the school’s Upper Hall (sixth through eighth grades) are conducting a combined fundraising and education effort in which they have sent letters to parents and community members asking for donations to help build a house for a family in Guatemala.
The estimated cost for such a structure is $8,000, and the school would like to raise half of that. The idea for this activity came from a teacher at the school who has visited Guatemala and from a letter another teacher received detailing the efforts of Cross Catholic Outreach to build homes for 159 families in two Guatemalan dioceses.
Like many Catholic schools, St. Matthew has a yearly theme. This year’s theme is “Kindness, Compassion and Love,” and last year’s was “Make a Difference.” A symbol combining the two themes is located just inside the main entrance and is the first thing visitors see when they come to the school.
“These fundraisers are all about putting those themes into action,” Rathburn said. “I’m proud and honored to be part of such a loving, kind school and community. When I come here, it doesn’t feel at all like what I’m doing is work. The Holy Spirit definitely lives in this building.”