For Immediate Release
Press Contact: Jennifer Gilbart
Phone: 845.664.3390
Email: jennifer.gilbart@walkingwithpurpose.com
BLAZE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM LAUNCHED AT BRONX CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Girls at St. Ignatius Middle School in Bronx, New York to participate in
Walking with Purpose BLAZE program at no cost
[Greenwich, CT, January 16, 2019] Walking with Purpose launched BLAZE, a new program for middle-school girls, to help them counter the lies they face about their worth and beauty with truths found in Scripture. The twenty-lesson program appeals to tweens through interactive activities and take-home gifts that reinforce a specific truth from the Bible during each lesson.
Since the program's inception, BLAZE has been adopted at dozens of Catholic parishes and schools throughout the U.S. Hundreds of home-based BLAZE study groups are being organized as well. Now, Walking with Purpose is offering BLAZE to schools and parishes that otherwise could not afford the program, an initiative made possible through the generosity of a long-time Walking with Purpose donor.
St. Ignatius School in Bronx, NY is the first school to receive the BLAZE scholarship, allowing 21 girls in seventh and eighth grades to participate at no cost beginning mid-January, 2019.
Sheila Bugniazet, a Greenwich resident, volunteers at St. Ignatius and helped the school secure the BLAZE scholarship. According to Bugniazet, “It's a free program that will give these girls something very worthwhile to do after school, two days a week. It will build up their self-esteem and perception of self-worth while letting them know that God loves them for who they are.”
St. Ignatius School is located in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx. According to a 2015 report from The Citizens Committee for Children of New York, more than 59% of children coming of age in Hunts Point live in poverty, a rate that has increased since 2008.
Says Julie Ricciardi, Walking with Purpose CEO, “What BLAZE is teaching girls is so critical at this time in their lives. Tween girls are constantly impacted with negative messaging, especially on social media. But through BLAZE, girls can hear Christ telling them how loved and beautiful they really are.”
The 2019 BLAZE scholarship program is limited to 200 participants from underserved Catholic parishes or schools, and more information on applying for the scholarship is available by e-mailing Laurie Baschwitz, Director of Operations, at laurie.baschwitz@walkingwithpurpose.com. Additional information about BLAZE can be found at https://walkingwithpurpose.com/blaze.
Walking with Purpose is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with headquarters in Greenwich, Connecticut. Our mission is to transform the hearts and lives of women by providing Bible studies that enable them to know Christ through Scripture and the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Learn more at https://walkingwithpurpose.com.
