St. Francis de Sales helps Ghana children

St. Francis de Sales submission

St. Francis de Sales Parish’s roughly 4,270 members in Lake Zurich were moved to action during the summer by a priest visiting the United States for the first time.

The Rev. Francis Akomeah visited with parishioners to discuss the needs of Ghana, a West African country with a population of about 22 million. As Akomeah gave a personal, heartfelt account of his life in Ghana, the parish community learned he is pastor to seven parishes in Kumasi-Kenyase, Ghana, and is striving to provide schoolchildren there with a solid educational foundation.

Since Akomeah’s June visit, St. Francis de Sales parishioners have stepped forward and offered not only generous donations of goods and funds, but also have spent time and energy organizing and implementing unique ways in which the parish community can reach out to brothers and sisters across the world.

Through the parish’s Mission Sunday collection, more than $18,800 was collected for Akomeah’s efforts. These funds will be used by the bishops of Ghana to meet the needs of parishes, medical clinics and schools promoted by the Catholic Church in Ghana.

St. Francis de Sales’ Dress a Girl Around the World Ministry created 350 dresses and 100 pairs of shorts to be sent to the children of Ghana, along with 80 new T-shirts. Many volunteers spent their time sewing, cutting and tracing donated fabrics, pillowcases, sheets and other materials.

Dress a Girl Around the World is a national movement that brings dignity to young girls and boys who may have never owned new clothing before.

In addition to the items of clothing and funds collected by students from the parish school, religious education

program and youth ministry program collected school supplies for the children in Ghana. The St. Francis de

Sales school administration presented Akomeah with a laptop computer and a parishioner donated a mini-generator.