“A La Jolla parish has raised $110,000 for a Puerto Rican group of nuns who have been showing grit during adversity, their building decimated by recent earthquakes.
Deacon Jim Vargas and the Rev. Patrick Mulcahy of Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Church on Girard Avenue were compelled to help after a February trip to Puerto Rico sponsored by fundraising organization Catholic Extension, which supports communities where resources are scarce.
‘It was brought to our attention the fact that the people were suffering,’ Vargas said of the invitation for the three-day trip.
The visit, called an ‘immersion trip,’ took Mulcahy, Vargas and a few other church leaders through the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico, a month after a large earthquake caused devastation in an area struggling to rebuild after Hurricane Maria hit in 2017.
‘It was amazing what we found,’ Vargas said. ”the devastation, the destruction of the buildings. … The people were suffering a lot.’
Among the buildings the quake destroyed was the motherhouse of a group of nuns called the Dominican Sisters of Fatima in the town of Guánica.”
View the whole story here: https://www.lajollalight.com/news/story/2020-08-03/joy-amid-destruction-la-jolla-church-raised-money-for-puerto-ricans-in-need