Good Shepherd parishioners and friends of all ages are invited to the delicious Esperanza Farm to Table Dinner at Good Shepherd Sunday, September 29 at 5:30 to support the scholarship fund at Esperanza Academy, a tuition-free school for middle school girls in Lawrence. This will be Good Shepherd’s fifth Esperanza dinner. It is free, but there will be a free-will offering for the scholarship fund. Sign up in the parish hall or contact us to RSVP.

The dinner is sponsored by several generous Good Shepherd parishioners who won a catered dinner at the Esperanza auction. It’s for 60 or more people and Esperanza’s Chef Dana Wilson will prepare dishes with fresh crops from his personal garden. As in the past, the dinner will be a fun event meeting some Esperanza students and staff, learning more about the school and enjoying each other’s company.

Good Shepherd, along with our diocese, has had a relationship with Esperanza since its founding 13 years ago. Over the years we have provided supplies for the students, sponsored students, given teacher workshops and consulted with administrators, volunteered in the library, helped 8th graders with their interview practice for applying to independent schools and judged at the annual Science Fair. Many of the students’ families come from the Dominican Republic. Esperanza makes a 12-year commitment to the girls, supporting them through high school and college. To learn more about Esperanza go to esperanzaacademy.org.