Breakfast to Support Fr. Tom's Kids

This video is about Our Lady of Grace School in Kenya, where Fr. Tom's Kids are educated.  Father Tom’s Kids is a registered non-profit charity run by the Dominican Friars of Eastern Africa. We link sponsors and donors from all over the world with impoverished children in and around Kisumu, Kenya, in order to support them and provide them with an education.

The students come to us from many different backgrounds. Some are orphans, some come from polygamous families, some have parents who struggle to feed them. They are referred to us by family, by other religious orders in the area (such as the Franciscan Sisters of St. Anne), by former Father Tom’s Kids, or simply by Divine Providence. None of them can afford to go to school without our aid.

St. Mary's Church in New Haven, CT. is having a pancake breakfast to benefit Fr. Tom's Kids.  It will be held after the 8 and 10 o'clock Mass on Sunday, March 3, 2013.  The Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic will be serving a full breakfast with eggs, sausage, pancakes, and fruit in the church hall.  Tickets are $ 10 and $ 20 for a family.  Donations are always welcome.  Come join and have an enjoyable breakfast and help the orphans that Fr. Tom and his successor have always loved and cherished.  This video is about Our Lady of Grace School in Kenya, where Fr. Tom's Kids are educated.

Thomas Richard Heath O.P.

                                        Thomas Richard Heath O.P.

                                           By T.K. Kraft, O.P.

                                Published by  Province of St. Joseph,

                                                    2010, 156 pp.

         

          For the past few years, I’ve always heard references regarding “Father Tom’s Kids.”  I vaguely understood that this term referred to the students in our Kenyan Vicariate, that were looking for sponsors.  But I never knew who Father Tom was.  Consequently, I was happy to hear that a book had been written about Father Tom.

           Thomas Richard Heath O.P. is an excellent little book.  It is beautiful.  I know you can’t judge a book by its cover, but this cover definitely attracts you.  It is a full page, colored picture of a relaxing Father Tom.  The pictures inside the book are numerous and artfully arranged, too.  They are “eye candy.”

          Luckily, Father Tom was a prolific writer.  He kept journals, correspondence, wrote books, articles, and poems.  There were plenty of materials, for the author, Father Kraft, to draw from.  Fr. Kraft covers Father Tom’s life from childhood to his death.  The account is quite personal as we see the world thru Father Tom’s lenses.  As we readers progress through the pages of this book, we find ourselves automatically “liking” Father Tom.  How could you not?  He was inspirational, peaceful, amicable, generous…Read this one impression:  page 113.

          He was a very unique person of enormous love, generosity,

          kind, joyful, compassionate, faithful to his religious commit-

          ment, and a strong-willed mind…He was a very sincere

          and honest person is his words and action, that you

          could never cheat him...  Sr. Marcella Auma, FSA

       What a good testimony!  Thomas Richard Heath O.P. is an easy read and a story everyone will appreciate, especially those in the Province of Saint Joseph, and its Vicariate.  Now, we are able to understand our Kenyan connection, who Father Tom’s Kids are, and who exactly this man, this priest, this Dominican friar was.

To purchase this book  send $ 20 to:                                              

Province of St. Joseph                        

141 E. Sixty-fifth Street                       

New York, NY 10021-6618                 

Make check out to: Dominican Foundation                        

On Memo Line=Heath Book                

Father Tom's Kids

The "Fr. Tom's Kids" Program pairs sponsors with orphans and needy students. Sponsored kids are provided a year of school fees, boarding, school supplies, basic medical care, uniforms, and books. Most of Fr. Tom's Kids are orphans whose families are victims of HIV/AIDS. Also prevalent is Burkitt Lymphoma, which is native to Africa. Those who have living parents prove to be too much of a burden to their families and are brought to the school. The school is Our Lady of Grace in Kisumu, Kenya. The mission is run by the Dominican Friars.

Besides the basic care, education is most important. Education is the ticket for a good job and to become a useful citizen. Education is the foundation for creating a more just society. Educated people are empowered to work for peace and justice against the current corruption in their part of the world. Ecuation trains informed leaders and enables those to raise their families out of the poverty cycle.

How about helping out. To sponsor a child, we're asking $ 75 a month. But just a tax-deductible donation to the Fr. Tom's Kids Program is wellcome. To contact the Dominican Friars in Kisumu, Kenya, please contact their Missions Director in the US:

Dominican Friars Kisumu
c/o DOMINICAN MISSION SECRETARIATE
141 East 65th St.
New York, NY 10065-6607