Saint Vincent's uniforms lift spirits in Liberia

St. Vincent de Paul School

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Courtesy story and photo St. Vincent de Paul School

Over the summer, Saint Vincent de Paul School donated unsold, used uniforms to Lifting Liberia, a charity that helps students in Africa. Karen Monson, the charity’s president, is an alumna of Saint Vincent de Paul School and a parishioner at Saint Thomas More. She has adopted four children from Liberia and every year she travels there to help African students realize their potential by creating educational opportunities. Lifting Liberia’s goal is to make education a right, not a luxury, for children, believing education is the key to ending the cycle of poverty and suffering.

In Africa students have to pay to attend schools and are required to have school uniforms, which they also pay for.

"When I delivered the plaid uniforms to the students they were so excited because they were not solid, like most of the other schools, they were plaid," Monson said. "They were excited that their school, Kingdom Kids Academy in Monrovia, Liberia now had unique and different uniforms."

Ninety percent of the Liberian school’s 165 students are on scholarship. The donation from Saint Vincent’s allowed these students in need to have uniforms without cost.

Next month the Saint Vincent community will donate another set of used uniforms and some books to Kingdom Kids Academy.