Earlier this summer, two De La Salle Collegiate students - Sebastian Morrison, ‘27, and Andrew Todd, ‘28 - had an idea to help their local community, putting their faith into action and living the values they are exposed to every day at De La Salle. 

After brainstorming between themselves and with Mr. Andrew Campbell, Dean of Students and Head of Counseling at DLS, and consulting with their local parish, St. Andrew Catholic Church in Rochester, and with Neighborhood House, a non-profit organization also located in Rochester that has partnered with St. Andrew, Sebastian and Andrew decided to conduct a towel drive. 

The boys spent much of the summer planning the event, creating flyers, and speaking at each parish Mass the weekend of August 1 - 2. 

Their original goal was 100 towels, but the weekend of August 8-9 netted 872 new and gently-used bath towels and washcloths, as well as $345 in cash donations - all donated to the Neighborhood House. The items filled 17 large Home Depot boxes. 

Planning the Project

The two boys learned a lot while planning this project. 

“The most surprising thing we learned was how many steps it actually took to initiate and conduct the towel drive,” said Sebastian. “During this whole process, though, we understood that it was necessary in order to make an impact on our community.”

Sebastian and Andrew chose the 100 towel goal because they had no idea what to expect.

“We didn’t know how many parishioners would participate and didn’t want to create a massive goal and fail to reach it," said Andrew.

Their planning included designing a digital flyer presented on the church’s projector screen and in the parish bulletin. The parish also promoted the project on its Facebook page. 

Their biggest challenge was the many steps that “all had to happen in order before the next step could occur.” 

And there were moments they wondered whether the project would be successful. 

“Just because there were a lot of steps didn’t mean the drive would be successful,” said Sebastian. 

Andrew added, “Once we decided we wanted to succeed, we spent the time and effort to make our ideas come to life, and put the rest in God’s hands and hoped for the best.” 

Meaningful Service 

Andrew described the towel drive this way.

“This project was meaningful to us personally because as Catholics, we believe in serving and giving, which includes helping and benefiting our local community. We believe this is what Jesus has called us to do as young men, not to just collect towels, but to help multiple people on a larger scale where they can be benefited from our service and help.

"This project encouraged giving, selflessness, and helping those in need, which is exactly what the church teaches through Jesus. This project has helped us deepen our faith and encourage others to be givers just as Jesus called us to be."

More Than Towels 

There was a moment when the two boys realized that this project was bigger than just collecting towels.

“On collection Day, when we saw large numbers of people coming to donate, we were able to recognize how meaningful this actually was. It shows how strong Catholics can be," Sebastian said. 

"People came up to us after we spoke at the different Masses advertising our drive. They were so happy to see us doing this, and they wanted to know how they could help as much as possible, along with giving us the encouragement to meet our goal.. This was very meaningful for us as we saw how much support people were willing to give."

He added, "Everyone’s support makes a difference, and on a larger scale, the results prove that with even a small amount of help, people’s lives can change."