Learning Center Faces Termite Floor Damage
August 18, 2009
Sometimes, it seems that just when I see the light at the end of the tunnel; it turns out to be a locomotive headed straight for me…
Last month at the Edmundite Learning Center, a group of young children sat around Marcus, their teen tutor, during the final week of our Summer Reading Program. He was reading a story when suddenly, the legs of his chair plunged through the floor and he landed hard on his back. Thinking he was hurt, the students jumped up to help him. Thank God, Marcus didn’t hit the window glass behind him.
A hopeless feeling came over me when I pulled the chair out of the hole and saw the floor had fallen in due to moisture and extensive termite damage. Over the past several years we have “made do” at the Center with small repairs and other precautionary measures because we had to cut budgets – to stretch every dollar. But now we have to face the fact that our 75 year-old building needs lasting repairs. This is a set back that will be extremely difficult to overcome.
I am worried that the main portion of the Learning Center could be condemned unless we get rid of the termites and completely replace the flooring in 3 areas. Estimates for the repairs come to $4,220 for the library floor, $4,137 for the entrance hallway and $1,989 for the kitchen floor, for a total cost of $10,346.
The Learning Center is important because the public school system in the “Black Belt” of Alabama is the worst in the nation. The 25 percent unemployment rate in the 4 counties we serve is higher than in any other state. On top of this staggering number, 4 out of 5 adults are under-employed, barely surviving with part time, low-paying jobs.
Hungry kids must eat good food in order to learn. Educating and feeding children is our main priority at the St Edmund’s Learning Center because we can’t feed minds when stomachs are growling! In order for the children to become stronger and more energetic, we prepare and serve them nutritious snacks every day. That is why our kitchen floor repair is so important.
When I think back to my own childhood in Elmira, New York, I realize how blessed I was. When I started Catholic grammar school, I already knew how to count and I had memorized the alphabet. That was normal for children my age. You and I take for granted before we enter school that 5 pennies equal a nickel and 2 nickels equal a dime.
Yet, many poor children in rural Alabama don’t know these basic facts because they come to us from disadvantaged households with parents who can barely read and are unable to assist their kids with homework.
Despite the serious situation we are now facing, we hold the strong belief that we feed and teach with God’s hands. We will celebrate the 25th Anniversary of St. Edmund’s Learning Center this year. You have sustained the Edmundite Missions, educated and fed the poor for seventy-two years because the Lord touched your heart. Without your help we could not have fulfilled the mission of our beloved founder, Father Frank Casey, who told us that God will surely bless us when we respond to His command to feed the hungry and care for the poor.
I need your help now more than ever before to replace the rotten flooring destroyed by widespread termite damage. We won’t have sufficient funds to complete the repairs without your help! A special sacrifice on behalf of the children will keep the children safe and the doors of the Learning Center open.
I must admit that I am discouraged about this crisis. But I pray every day with hope in my heart that you will somehow be able to help us during these especially hard times. Hope is the strongest indicator that everything is possible through our Lord Jesus. Surely, your contributions will be matched by God’s abundant blessings.
In Christ's Love,
Rev. Richard Myhalyk, S.S.E.
