Shooting for a
very good cause

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

Since Sister Paul Mercedes Perreca was killed in a still unsolved hit-and-run accident in January 2006, St. Martin of Tours School has organized basketball tournaments to raise money for a scholarship fund in her memory.
The weekend tournaments were held in the spring of 2006 and ’07, but the school planned to install a much-needed new floor to the gymnasium this year. That put the tournament in jeopardy.
The work began after the school’s annual communion breakfast in April. The new floor would be ready for Memorial Day weekend, but with many families away, that’s wouldn’t be an ideal time for the fund-raiser.
Looking ahead, five eighth-graders stepped forward, telling principal Sister Stephen Frances that they’d organize the event.
"It wasn’t going to happen, so we went to Sister and said we would do it," said Sean Maccari.
Maccari was joined by Alex Barzeski, Sean Hubbard, Matt Little and Owen Kilian. The 14-year-olds are all students in Mr. Bill Smith’s homeroom and played on the school basketball team.
None had Sister Paul, a former math teacher and head of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Education Center but they knew her reputation.
"She used to be kind to everybody," said Hubbard, whose older brother Greg had her in math class.
After nearly two months of preparation, the tournament took place last week.
The students changed the format. Instead of five-on-five, full-court games involving students, teachers and parents, this year’s tournament featured three-on-three, half-court games with students playing.
A total of 33 teams of boys and girls in fifth to eighth grade signed up. The 15-minute games ran smoothly.
Teams paid $10 each. Fans paid a $1 admission. There were sales of T-shirts, hot dogs, pizza, soft pretzels, desserts and drinks.
Leading up to the May 28 event, the scholarship fund was bolstered through a dress-down day and an eighth-grade bake sale that coincided with a visit to the school by Mayor Michael Nutter, who was taught by Sister Paul Mercedes in sixth grade at West Philadelphia’s Transfiguration of Our Lord.
"We wanted to raise as much money as we could," Kilian said.
The students, who will graduate on June 11 before heading off to North Catholic High School, did plenty of preparation. They set up tables and chairs, sought food donations from families and parishioners, cleaned and signed up teams and referees.
"I call them the ‘Fab Five,’ " said Smith, their teacher.
The teenagers were grateful for all of the help from adults, especially active parents Tom and Susan Lavin. Among the companies that were generous was All American Sporting Goods, which printed the T-shirts.
The money goes to a scholarship fund that will pay the $2,520 tuition next year for a seventh-grade student.
"Every single cent raised goes to the Sister Paul scholarship," Smith said.
In Smith’s view, the scholarship should be a coveted prize for any student, considering it is named for a beloved former educator who entered the convent in 1963 soon after graduating from St. Hubert. St. Martin’s has named its new library in her memory.
"Sister Paul cared a great deal for the kids at St. Martin’s," Smith said.
The scholarship winner will be announced on the last day of school. According to Sister Stephen Frances, the winner will be a student who attends Mass, provides service to the school and church and works to the best of his or her ability.
Sister Paul Mercedes, 61, was killed Jan. 9, 2006, when a pickup truck hit her as she crossed Cottman Avenue at Hawthorne Street on her way to Monday morning Mass at St. Matthew. She lived at St. Martin’s convent but spent many nights caring for her mother and stepfather, who has since died, in their Mayfair home.
The police department’s accident investigation division labels the investigation as "ongoing." ••