Team Tempest raises money for St. Jude

BILOXI, Miss.- Members of Team Tempest Robotics of St. Patrick Catholic High School traveled to the St. Jude Affiliate in Baton Rouge over the Thanksgiving break.  They were able to present the representatives with a $3,303.00 check for research at St. Jude’s Research Hospital in Memphis.  This affiliate works with Our Lady of the Lake to schedule St. Jude patients with their treatment closer to home.

The project was a culmination of several years of volunteer service by Team Tempest. Their outreach project, “Bears and Bands”, was founded by team president Mary Catherine Kalil ’19, continued by Todd Fayard ’20, Gavriella Persing ’21 and Olivia Seymour ’22. The goal of the project was to sell plush teddy bears and wrist bands to help raise money for childhood cancer research. Each bear is adorned with a gold ribbon which is the designated color of childhood cancer. Donations from the community helped Team Tempest exceed their goal. This year, Team Tempest added to the project by collecting requested items for St. Jude in Memphis. They collected over 700 individual blankets, socks and caps for the children. Both the financial donation and the donated items will go directly to the children at St. Jude in Memphis. This years event was coordinated by Blake Williams ’22.