At Pope Francis’ first World Youth Day, he challenged all the young people to go home and do something inspiring.
The students of Bishop Guilfoyle High School listened.
In the heart of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, the students have completed their fifth consecutive Pope Francis Challenge, just in time for Thanksgiving.
Tessa Crider is a senior at Bishop Guilfoyle and calls the challenge a humbling experience and “the biggest thing we do here at B-G.”
And big it is. The ‘challenge’ is posed to the school’s approximately 300 students, who are encouraged to 
collect 50 items to donate to those who need them most. Students collect food, personal hygiene items and other household supplies.
Patrick Donoguhe, who is also a Bishop Guilfoyle senior, simply calls the experience “fulfilling”.
The collected items were loaded by students onto trucks and the boxes were then delivered to six local charitable organizations across all faiths.
Bob Sutton teaches Theology at Bishop Guilfolye and works with the students on the challenge. “There’s no book that could teach them this.”
2017 Pope Francis Challenge by the numbers:
– Over 18,000 items were collected
– 1,100 full-sized boxes of cereal set a new school record
– One seventh-grade student collected 250 items
– One twelfth-grade student collected 400 items
