Prep Talk

Environmental Club Sponsors Wildlife Preserve; Beautifies Padre Pio Shrine

Posted May 1st, 2012

 

Recently, the Environmental Club sponsored a school-wide Dodge Ball Tournament, which raised $526.  After funding the tournament prizes, the Club awarded cash prizes ($200) for the Arts in Earth Day competition (see story here) and donated $266 to the National Wildlife Federation. The donation was targeted to the Adopt-A-Wildlife-Acre program, which secures 7,500 acres in Montana’s Gallatin National Forest, which is adjacent to Yellowstone National Park.  The club’s gift will retire 16+ acres and will provide a winter habitat for the Yellowstone Bison. In the winter, the bison leave Yellowstone when the snow is deep.  The grazing area in Gallatin National Park increases the bison’s chances of survival in the winter in two ways. First, it provides food.  In addition, without this grazing area, bison that leave Yellowstone in search of food are captured and killed, for fear that the bison will transfer disease to local livestock. It is a win-win situation!

More recently, on Friday, April 27, club members traveled to the Padre Pio Shrine on Route 40 for Beautification #4.  As on three previous trips, Mrs. Dandrea greeted the students and started off the service project with a prayer.  The boys worked for two hours weeding and reapplying mulch to the perimeter of the property and to the flower beds.  The students’ labors over the last several months have contributed greatly to the beauty of the outdoor shrine.

Photo: Freshmen Vineeth Romiyo, Michael Danovich, and Austen Jones help beautify the Padre Pio Shrine.