Philadelphia parish school documentary to serve as fund-raising tool

The Rev. Eduardo Coll, pastor of St. Veronica Roman Catholic Church in the Franklinville section of North Philadelphia, can name the nearby Catholic elementary schools that closed in recent years because of dropping enrollment and rising costs:

St. Joan of Arc, St. Hugh of Cluny, St. Anne, and others.

Coll and other dedicated supporters are determined to make sure St. Veronica's parish school, which has 200 students in kindergarten to eighth grade, escapes that fate. They have gone on the offensive, doing everything from recruiting students via Facebook to seeking contributions from business leaders.

And to help get the word out, one volunteer made a short documentary - St. Veronica: A Celebration 140 Years in the Making - which will have its red-carpet premiere Saturday as the church near North Sixth and Tioga Streets celebrates its 140th anniversary.

"This is an oasis of opportunity in North Philadelphia," said Hollie McDonald, a bank manager, who thought a video could help promote the school, which is a haven for children in an impoverished Latino neighborhood.

Using a video camera borrowed from her alma mater, Archbishop Ryan High School in Northeast Philadelphia, McDonald learned how to shoot and edit. She spent a week of vacation in May recording Coll, students, staff, and the neighborhood.

McDonald then distilled seven hours of footage into a crisp, nine-minute video that sums up the critical role St. Veronica plays in a community plagued by violence and poverty.

So many of the children, she said, told her they love St. Veronica's School because it is the only place they felt safe.

McDonald, 35, began her own parish-school education at St. Timothy in Mayfair and completed it at St. Christopher in Somerton. She became involved in St. Veronica through her current parish, SS. Simon and Jude in West Chester.

The two parishes have been linked since a former pastor from SS. Simon and Jude, the Rev. Donald McNamara, was transferred several years ago to St. Veronica. Now, the church in West Chester calls the Franklinville church its "sister parish," and the SS. Simon and Jude website includes St. Veronica on its list of parish ministries.

SS. Simon and Jude takes up special collections for its sister parish, and the pastors of the two churches switch pulpits once a year.

McDonald said she was spellbound by a homily Coll delivered in March 2010 in which he detailed the violence that erupts on the streets of his parish.

Eighty percent of the families live below the federal poverty line. And the parish had a $400,000 deficit - most of it from the parish school. St. Veronica charges $2,700 for tuition, but spends $4,100 to educate each child.

"I don't have any way to transfer that burden to the parents," Coll said.

About half the students receive financial aid from scholarship programs, such as Business Leadership Organized for Catholic Schools (BLOCS). But Coll said he worried his school's enrollment might slip below the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's benchmark minimum of 200 and be closed.

As it is now, Coll said, St. Veronica is the only Catholic elementary school left in a chunk of the city from Lehigh Avenue to Roosevelt Boulevard and between Broad Street and Kensington Avenue.

He begged the congregation at SS. Simon and Jude for help to save his parish school, which literally was saving lives. Without St. Veronica's, Coll said, people would die of drugs or die in prison.

"It upset me," McDonald said. "You knew he meant it."

She went to St. Veronica two days later and asked, "What can I do."

McDonald, the president of the Catholic Business Network of Greater Philadelphia Inc., an independent nonprofit organization, wound up helping raise money. She collected books from former classmates and her fourth-grade teacher at St. Timothy. And McDonald, who is the manager of the M&T Bank in Concordville, persuaded the bank to provide school supplies for teachers and 200 backpacks for students.

But as St. Veronica prepared to celebrate its 1872 founding, McDonald decided creating a short documentary - in which Coll, students, parishioners, and others could talk about the school - could help improve the school's long-term financial picture.

"I thought that would appeal to people who were willing to help the children," McDonald said. "Father speaking from his heart. Sister Mary Anne [the principal] talking about the quality of the school."

The goal, she said, is to raise $400,000 in a year.

"We'll also be sharing the film with wealthy Catholics in the area that I think could help the school," McDonald said. "If we educate these children, we can get them out" of the poverty that has entrapped their families.

The video will have its premiere at the parish celebration Oct. 1 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the church, 533 W. Tioga St. The documentary will be posted on St. Veronica School's Facebook page and the school's website after the premiere.

"It is a jump start," McDonald said. "I'm hoping it will inspire the alumni, and that others will see it and help this community. It's the power of social media."

To learn more about St. Veronica's parish and school, go to stveronicaphila.org.

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