Convent & Stuart Hall Network Student Advisory Committee (NSAC) members organized a bake sale to benefit the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund in support of Los Angeles fire and Texas flood victims, both devastating events that occurred in 2025.

NSAC is a national committee composed of student representatives from the 25 U.S. and Canadian Sacred Heart schools. The committee’s goal is to build community across the network by living out the Sacred Heart goals, such as in this project goal three: a social awareness that impels to action.

With the help of more than 40 Convent & Stuart Hall High School student volunteers who baked a variety of treats and sold them during lunchtime at the Broadway campus, the bake sale successfully raised more than $1,300.

“It felt great to volunteer for a cause in unity with the rest of the Sacred Heart network,” said Antonio Ruby, a senior at Stuart Hall High School and bake sale volunteer.

The Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund was chosen by NSAC since it provides assistance to crises across the United States. Amanda Codina, Director of Student Program & Special Initiatives for the Sacred Heart Network, is the NSAC moderator. “The Red Cross was particularly important to support in the wake of the Los Angeles wildfires because it remains one of the most effective and reliable ways to get resources directly to those who need them most,” said Codina.

Last April, Jaime Dominguez, Head of School at Oakwood School and former Head of Stuart Hall for Boys, spoke to NSAC about the Los Angeles fires’ impact on his K-12 independent school community, which is located in the San Fernando Valley, adjacent to the Eaton Fire in Altadena and the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades.

“Mr. Dominguez emphasized that the Red Cross is uniquely equipped to mobilize quickly, bring aid to affected communities, and provide immediate relief on the ground,” said Codina.

The flash floods in Texas, in which 135 people died, prompted NSAC members to broaden the fundraiser’s focus to support wider disaster relief efforts of the Red Cross. These floods personally affected some NSAC members.

Daisy Lee, a junior at the Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart in Houston, Texas, knew many people who suffered directly from the floods. She shared her testimonial with Convent & Stuart Hall NSAC members about the impact on her community: “A few ways this impacted our community were through the grief felt by families, religious ceremonies to honor those who were lost, and the uncertainty about people’s whereabouts,” said Lee. “There was…a gathering of therapists [at Duchesne] to help parents and friends of those who were lost grieve because I know it was very hard for them.”

The testimonials from Dominguez and Lee set off a chain of fundraisers from Louisiana to Pennsylvania, to Washington, to Nebraska, to San Francisco, which raised more than $2,700 for the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. This coordinated effort around a common cause demonstrates the strength and unity of the Sacred Heart Network, which is rooted in shared values.

“It has been inspiring to witness students from across the network come together with a shared purpose and act as one Sacred Heart family,” Codina continues. “Their collective effort reflects not only the strength of our network, but the depth of compassion that drives our shared mission.”