S Helping the Hungry tudents who excel academically
HOLDEN FERNANDEZ ’23
many Jesuit students quickly sought out ways in
,
seeing what health-care workers were going
through on the front lines inspired him to start a
than $1,000, which was enough to provide 150
meals – one for every employee working the night
shift at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, with Adam
and American Social providing the
meals.
JESUIT PERSPECTIVES • WINTER 2020-21 21
and athletically are generally well
known. They receive awards and
honors, and their teachers and social
media recognize their accomplishments.
Students excelling in service usually
are somewhat less well known. Count
as an exception.
On the sidelines as Jesuit basketball
team manager – a typically anonymous
position – his stylish white suit draws
the eyes of onlookers. And by earning
Holocaust Museum last year,
which was awarded during
Convocation in front of the
student body, De Guzman’s
recognized De Guzman’s
“humanitarian actions that
better the lives of others,”
and this year he is bettering
lives through his service with
BillionGraves. De Guzman is
capturing headstone images
in local cemeteries, then
transcribing and documenting
the personal information on
the headstones.
All of it then goes into a
searchable GPS database,
allowing families and
ancestors. De Guzman’s voracious
commitment to this service project
has resulted in his completing
headstones over 168 hours of work, for
recognition from BillionGraves.
Below is an excerpt of De Guzman’s
for Jesuit’s community service program
“’Memento mori,’ remember that you
must die. A phrase not too often uttered
in today’s world, with such an emphasis
on what to do tomorrow. Yet this
phrase echoed in my mind every single
gravestone. … Ultimately, the joys, pains,
and any aspect of one’s life lie inscripted
on a grave, with only their name and
bookends of life to show for it. Their true
life can only be revived in the minds of
their family and friends. … The time I
spent transcribing really has pushed me
to live more intentionally. Not in a sense
of not having any leisure, but making
that time matter. Because in the end, I
won’t know whether I’ ll even make it
home today. But my hope (is) that those
I knew could console in the fact that the
brevity of what lies on my grave will live
on in their hearts for as long as they can
remember me.”
Nicholas Schultz '23 and Drew Schultz '22
Holden Fernandez '23
Bob Hyde, P '22
Patrick Smith '22
DREW SCHULTZ ’22 and NICHOLAS
SCHULTZ ’23
One of the great opportunities offered at Jesuit
High School are the summer mission trips. Each
year, dozens of Jesuit students engage in such
service immersion experiences. Sadly, due to
COVID-19, all mission trips during Summer 2020
were cancelled. Brothers and
found another way to serve
asking their neighbors to consider picking up a
few extra non-perishable items the next time they
went grocery shopping. A short time later, over a
two-day period, the brothers made collections,
THE DADS’ CLUB – SERVICE ‘MAGIS’
dads host the Special Olympics on campus each
year and park cars at school events and major
events at Raymond James Stadium, raising money
year, the Dads’ Club has taken it a step further.
President initiated a Saturday
Bay. A large contingent of dads and their Jesuit
Community College, where they assist for several
PATRICK SMITH ’22
Many Jesuit students have taken the initiative
to support critical causes, such as hunger in
our community. did just that
in early January. He connected with Stock
Bay, and collected food to be provided to the
program. In mid-January, Smith stocked the
donated to the program.