Thank you for supporting the community!

You're welcome! That is part of the reason Patch is here.

Vote for SJNRCS

I don't think a private school that charges almost $9,000/year tuition would be an appropriate "nonprofit" for this award.

SJNRCS! The children learn everyday about giving back to their community through the many service projects! Awsome kids!

nobody but nobody gets more bang for a buck (other than home-schooled kids) than the parochial schools. You do it their way and their way is readin', writin' and cipherin'

Ms., are you saying that non-profits are not deserving of charitable contributions because they receive a tax-break? Not sure I follow how that relates to an individual being taxed to pay for services they also pay to receive privately which is the case for parents who send their kids to parochial (not private!) school.

In any event, we are very grateful that the Patch, as well as all those who give generously of their time, talent and treasure to any charity don't hold that opinion. We will continue to teach our kids both at home and at SJNRCS that it is a blessing to give to others.

The misconception here is that SJNRCS is a private school we are not, we are a parochial school. This means we pay so our kids can pray. We do not have a chip about paying taxes what we have a chip over is people thinking that because we go to a religious school we must all be rich and above it all.

All that unnecessary nastiness posted by "Ms" just caused me to vote for SJNRCS. Didn't know a thing about it before now. Just looked it up and looks like they have a fine program. When voting for a non-profit, was it really necessary to criticize another, Ms? I don't think so.

What? No Bingo?

Guess" Ms" certainly didn't attend SJNRCS....too bad, so sad...I preferred SJN to the public schools we have here ...Born and educated in the EAST, thank GOD!!

Though it seemed clear enough, I'm going to try and clarify this one last time, since there seem to be some serious reading comprehension issues going on here. My issue was not with the school at all. Only with the original poster's argument that she doesn't like paying for public schools. NO MORE, NO LESS.

But by the way, if you're going to go public representing your religious values and institutions, you may want to consider that your comments can reflect poorly on those things you claim to value as well.

"Guess" Ms" certainly didn't attend SJNRCS....too bad, so sad...Born and educated in the EAST, thank GOD!!"

Wow, you really have embraced the humility and humanity embodied in the spirit of Christ... Is this the way everyone who attended your institution views the world?

Why are you opposed to calling SJNRCS a private school? If you're not receiving tax dollars, and are charging tuition, it's a private school. Parochial schools are simply a subset of private schools. Is it just not wanting to give the impression that all SJNRCS families are wealthy?

Yay for Catholic schools! Thank you for educating my children!!!!! Our kids go to a different school but I vote for SJN and will spread the word about this contest!!!

Hatred, sarcasm, and ignorance - yeah you have made your point very clear Ms.

We are opposed to being called private because private school tuition is around 15,000-20,000. The reason for this is that they can provide out of this world opportunities, computers and sporting teams. Our tuition is 1/2 of that, many of our families including me sacrifice to send our kids to SJNRCS because we want our kids to have a school environment that includes being able to pray and serve the lord as well as our community. Yes it is important to be able to have a good education as well and our teachers are fantastic but it might interest you to know that our teachers on average make about $10,000 less per year than a public school teacher, so we are no where near a private school. The wealthy families at SJN are the minority not he majority many of our kids are on financial assistance or scholarship programs. I will tell Ms. the problem I have with paying taxes for a school my kid does not attend is that when my kid needed services from the county I was told they could not help me because they hardly had time for the kids in there own schools, which is against the law BTW because all tax paying citizens are supposed to be given services for speech therapy, OT etc. from the public school system.

This whole discussion has gotten way off the original topic which was started by my response to SJM's statement that SJNRCS is not an appropriate non-profit organization to receive this award. Ms., if you re-read my original statement, I never said I had a problem paying for public schools, my issue is that I have no choice in paying for them, nor is my voice heard in those public schools because I am not a PTA member. SJM's statement was factually incorrect and he/she DOES have a choice about supporting us. Perhaps you didn't intend your statement to be hostile, but I certainly perceived it that way. Apparently others did as well. While you raise a valid point that this discourse may reflect unfavorably on our organization, the way I am reading these messages, it doesn't seem to be going that way.
I would like to repeat that we are very grateful to the Patch and all others who have chosen to support our school. We are also grateful that we have been blessed to be able to send our children to a school where they are encouraged to pray with and for their classmates and teachers. If you would like to see what our school is about, I suggest you stop by the church around 12:15 tomorrow AFTER school is dsimissed for summer vacation to join us as we gather in prayer for one of our "family" who is fighting cancer. THAT is who we are! And on that note, I'll end my participation in, and following of, this discussion. May God Bless Us All!

Who won?

We're not sure yet, Regina. They're still counting it up, but we will announce it as soon as the results are in. Two of the charities will get at least $250 but we're not yet sure who will be getting the $1,500.

OK how long does it take to count? We want to know!

I'm sorry it is taking so long but I'm told we will know the winner soon. We will definitely post the story and let you all know as soon as we can. Thank you for being so patient.

Hey, avoid all the controversy and vote for The Shepherd's Staff Ministries - definitely a 501(c)3 non-profrit. We receive nothing but donations. Thanks!

Yay! Thank you Patch for helping the community!