St. Cyril's did it!

EAST LANSDOWNE - The total dollar amount raised by the St. Cyril Save Our School (SOS) Committee will be announced at a special meeting tonight in St. Cyril Parish Social Hall. The initial target was $200,000 to keep the school open beyond the current school year that ends in June. We've raised over $200,000. I expect there shouldn't be any problem," St. Cyril Pastor Father Edward T. Kearns said on Monday. SOS Committee President Jim Gray will announce the grand total. The committee was formed after the results of a self-study of schools in Cluster 63, of which St. Cyril is a part, showed the school had a deficit of $200,000 for the current year. Closing in June was recommended unless the funds could be raised. Fund-raising efforts got a boost from sixth grade student Tommy Geromichalos who wrote a letter to the Make-A-Wish Foundation expressing his heartfelt with that the school be kept open long enough for him to graduate from eighth grade. Since the first committee meting on Jan. 25 parents, teachers and students have worked intensively to raise $200,000. "It's been hectic but it's been great," Father Kearns said. "People are really rallying around this cause. They definitely want to keep this school open as long as they can. It's been great because everybody's been on the same page." If paperwork is completed by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in time for the Wednesday meeting Father Kearns will be able to announce the school will stay open another year. In any event he expects the announcement to come within the week. But the work won't end there. "We're looking forward to next year. We're looking at long term funding to keep the school open," he said. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the parish social hall, 153 Penn Blvd. in East Lansdowne.