Affton Family Preps for Year-Long Mission to Belize

The Kuhnert family’s supporters are holding a pasta dinner and raffle fundraiser Friday at St. Dominic Savio Church.

The members of the Kuhnert family of Affton has a lot of planning to do. In seven weeks, they are packing up their family of seven and moving to the Central American nation of Belize, where they will stay for a full year, teaching and doing community service. Andy and Julie Kuhnert have five children, ages 11, 9, 7, 3 and 1. Andy is a teacher at Buerkle Middle in the Mehlville District. Their children attend St. Dominic Savio Parish School. The “Seven in the Sun,” as they call themselves on their blog, are not making this move under the auspices of any established program, as most such programs to Latin America require a three-year commitment—too long, the couple believes, to make with their young children. Instead, they are raising most …

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Get Out

Fill Your Weekend with Film, Books, and Pop with Teeth

Our weekly Get Out planner has got all the media you need to make it to Monday.

This week we've got movies and music, hoops and trivia. And, if you are looking to stay in, stop by a book sale. Lindbergh High Film Festival When/Where: 6 p.m. Friday at Lindbergh High School, 5000 S. Lindbergh Blvd. Why Go: Everyone likes movies, even short ones! Check out these short films by talented Lindbergh High School students. Films will be judged by professional critics. Pricing: Free, but canned food products will be collected for local food pantries Lindbergh Faculty Basketball Game When/Where: 6:45 p.m. Saturday at Lindbergh High School, 5000 S. Lindbergh Blvd. Why Go: Come see Sperreng Middle and Lindbergh High faculty dunk and dribble—or at least try. There will also be Hula-hooping and face painting for the kids, plus award…

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Whiz Kid

Rogers Middle Student President Looks to Help Others

Each week we show off an accomplished local student.

Name: Courtney Kroeger School: Rogers Middle School Grade: 8th Activities and Accomplishments. Courtney is a president of the student council at Rogers Middle School. She on the Honor Roll, participates in the Affton Reads Book Club—a parent/child book club that Rogers sponsors. She is also a peer mediator, part of a group which works to keep Rogers a fight-free school. She participates in the new Wii Play 60 fitness group and plays volleyball and basketball on the Rogers Middle teams. She also plays on teams at St. Dominic Savio. Courtney has earned the Bronze Award in Girl Scouts and is working on the Silver Award. As student council president, she has presided over several projects, including a canned food drive which collected …

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Churches, Charities and Kindnesses

Yellow Food Bus Keeps Truckin’ After 30 Years of Service

St. Vincent de Paul Society of St. Dominic Savio Catholic Church operates a mobile food pantry.

For nearly three decades, Affton residents have likely noticed the small yellow school bus going in and out of St. Dominic Savio Catholic Church’s parking lot. Adorned with a Bible verse from the gospel of Matthew that states, “When I was hungry, you gave me to eat.” The Yellow Food Bus picks up donated food and drops it off to food pantries, schools and agencies that assist individuals in need.  “We are certainly the only people in St. Louis that offer this kind of service, and maybe the only people in the world!” said Jack Magee, one of the bus’ drivers for the last 20 years. A project of the St. Vincent de Paul Society of St. Dominic Savio Catholic Church, the bus is in action five days a week, taking off Tuesdays and Sundays. Manned by…

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Churches, Charities and Kindnesses

Book Buddies Program Unites Local Volunteers with Students

Community members share their love of reading with young children at Mesnier Primary School.

Volunteers are teaming up with students at Mesnier Primary School to promote reading in a relatively new program called Book Buddies. Community members visit the school’s library once a week and share their love of reading with kindergarten, first-grade and second-grade students who are enrolled in Mesnier’s before-school-care program. Volunteers are assigned one student each semester, and many of pairs have been together since the program began, which is now in its second year. “I love to read, and it’s wonderful to be in a program that promotes reading like Book Buddies,” said Carol Buck, a volunteer.  Depending on the child’s reading level, volunteers either read to the students or read with them through the program’s interactive “We …

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Churches, Charities and Kindnesses

St. Dominic Savio Parish Volunteers Serve Up 25 Years of Meals to Shalom House

An Affton parish has been cooking and sharing home-cooked meals with a St. Louis women’s shelter.

Call it food for the soul. Or is it food from the soul? Either way, a group of women from St. Dominic Savio Parish on Mackenzie Road are cooking up and sharing homemade meals on a weekly basis with the residents at Shalom House, a St. Louis nonprofit agency that provides programs and services to homeless women with mental illness and chemical dependency. "There are about 55 women from (St. Dominic Savio) involved in this outreach," said Carol Buck, a member of the Affton parish who oversees the Shalom House program.  Shalom House operates a 90-day emergency shelter, 24-month transitional housing program and an ongoing "aftercare" program. It will soon be expanding its services by offering permanent supportive housing.  The St. Dominic …

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